RALEIGH — Achievement for All Children now has a contract to operate Southside-Ashpole Elementary School in Rowland for five years beginning with the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

The N.C. State Board of Education unanimously approved a contract between Achievement for All Children and the Innovative School District on Thursday. The contract stipulates Achievement for All Children will be paid $100,000 per year for the length of the contract.

Tony Helton, CEO of Achievement for All Children, and state education Superintendent Mark Johnson signed the document at the state Department of Public Instruction. The contract will begin a school turnaround experiment that may serve as a model for the state’s low-performing schools.

Achievement for All Children promises to double student proficiency in one year and turn a school with an “F” grade into an “A” school within the five years of its contract.

“The students of Southside Ashpole received a hand up today,” Helton said. “We will ensure that they receive the best education and it is our commitment to improving not only their education, but their future.

“We are extremely excited to begin working with the staff, students, and community members,” he said.

Achievement for All Children is a start-up company that is affiliated with TeamCFA, a charter school operator that runs 13 schools and is headquartered in Forest City. At Southside-Ashpole it will employ a curriculum that it uses in charter schools.

“We will foster student learning and achievement by inspiring scholars to become independent thinkers, effective communicators, and lifelong learners who are prepared to become productive, accountable, and engaged citizens,” Helton said.

The Innovative School District is mandated by the North Carolina General Assembly to take over five schools across the state for a five-year period. Southside-Ashpole is its first school.

It was chosen from a list of finalists of about 50 schools that at one time included five schools from Robeson County.

Achievement for All Children will hire the principal, who will then hire staff, who will be employees of the state. Current teachers will be asked to reapply if they wish to keep their jobs.

When the plan was first floated last fall, the Board of Education was vocal in opposition. Eric Hall, the superintendent of the district, spent months meeting with board members and members of the Rowland community, trying to build support.

The local school system’s ultimate choice was to surrender the school or close it and transfer its students to other schools in the system. The board voted unanimously at its January meeting to cede control of the school.