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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Officials within the Syracuse City School District are working on an education plan for schools identified as under performing.

Seven are in the bottom five percent, labeled as "Priority Schools." The state identified an additional 12 schools in the district that are in need of improvements.

The first seven will have undergo a redesign. They include Bellevue, Danforth, Frazer, Porter, Seymour, Van Duyn and Westside Academy at Blodgett. That classification is based on graduation rates and other factors like student performance.

The district has to create a whole school redesign for the 2013-2014 school year using seven principles which including evaluating leadership and even extending the school day. They know they have their work cut out for them.

"When you think about turning around one school at a time, that's difficult. But seven at once, seven at once requires a different kind of strategy and different kinds of thinking about how you support seven schools in a different way. So not just providing more resources, but different resources, different kinds of support to make sure all seven of them succeed," said Laura Kelley, Syracuse City School District Chief Academic Officer.

The Board of Education will have the final say on the redesign based on the Superintendent's recommendation. The goal is to begin the pre-implementation phase in April. The 12 other schools’ needs will be addressed in the following years.