DERRY — It will be a busy year in preparation for the opening of a new charter high school at the Gilbert H. Hood School in September 2013.

Last month, the state’s Department of Education approved the Derry School District’s plan to establish an alternative charter high school.

Over the summer, the district has begun the work of transitioning from a charter school committee to a board of directors that will operate separately from the district.

“We’ve been working since the (July) School Board meeting with the charter school committee to transition to the start-up of the board of directors,” said Superintendent Laura Nelson. “We’ve also been working with our attorneys to look at a memorandum of understanding between the district and the school.”

Middle school administrators Joe Crawford and Justin Krieger prepared the charter school application and have been heavily involved in the efforts to open the school next year, according to Nelson.

“We’ve looked at drafting bylaws for the operation of the board, and discussed its makeup and what the roles and responsibilities will be,” she said.

The charter committee has reached out to members of the community about serving on the board of directors and will be furthering its outreach efforts in the coming weeks to publicize the goals of the new school, Nelson said.

“We’ve been meeting once or twice per month, and it’s been a very active board as we transition from the charter school committee to the board of directors,” she said.

With the state approval, the district also received startup funding for the school.

The state will provide about $200,000 per year in start-up costs for the school’s first three years. That money can be used for anything from furniture and equipment to curriculum development. In addition, the state will also pay $5,400 for each student attending the school.

Once students begin attending the school, there will be a tuition agreement much as the district has with Pinkerton Academy. The tuition revenue will be used to pay for the school’s bills and operations, and parents will not be expected to pay as the charter school will be a public school. The district’s contract with Pinkerton Academy states that up to 10 percent of the district’s students do not need to attend high school at Pinkerton.

It is expected the school will have about 30 students when it opens for the 2013-14 school year.

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Adam Swift may be reached at aswift@newstote.com.