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Fred W. Martin Number 41 School will receive $4.5 million and Snyder High School will get $4.3 million in federal School Improvement Grant money, the state Department of Education announced today.

Both schools are eligible for the money, part of $45.3 million given out to 12 schools statewide, under the “Turnaround Model,” one of three that schools could opt to pursue under the grants. The federal guidelines require each school using this model to replace the principal and rehire no more than 50 percent of the current staff. The new principal must also be given “sufficient control” of staffing, the academic calendar and budgeting in order to give a full effort at improving student outcomes.

“Some painful steps will be required to implement these bold reforms,” former Jersey City mayor and current Education Commissioner Bret Schundler says in a statement. “But these schools are ready to break from the status quo. They know that a child’s destiny should not be determined by his or her street address. The districts say they are ready to make good on their promise to make changes and improve education for students.”

The grants awarded today will be used over a three-year period. The Department of Education says it will announce a second competition for about $28 million in federal School Improvement Grant funds during the next school year.