The School Reform Commission is set to consider school closings, contracts for private managers and disciplinary schools, and a controversial charter renewal at a special meeting today.

If the commission gives the nod, two schools - William Penn High and Gillespie Middle School, both in North Philadelphia - would be shuttered. District officials cite declining attendance and poor academics as the reasons for closing both.

William Penn would close next year, and Gillespie would close this year.

Also on the agenda is a vote on $9 million worth of new contracts for private firms which previously ran district schools. If a staff recommendation is endorsed, the providers, including for-profit EdisonLearning, would receive one- or two-year contracts to provide supplementary services, not run the schools.

Benjamin W. Rayer, an associate district superintendent, has said that the once-heralded privatization experiment has not worked over seven years, but that it should be transformed, not jettisoned. Each private firm would receive $500 per student, regardless of services provided.

The district has paid the private providers more than $100 million since the state took over city public schools.

The commission will also consider nearly $50 million in contracts for disciplinary and alternative schools. The district is poised to expand programs for dropouts and reduce the number of spots for students with discipline problems.

The commission also is expected to vote on granting a new operating charter to the embattled New Media Technology Charter School.

The SRC delayed a decision on New Media a month ago to give district staffers time to find answers to questions about academics and allegations of financial mismanagement.

At that time, Supt. Arlene Ackerman said: "There have been some concerns raised, and we want to make sure that we're clear about the resolution of some of those claims."

Yesterday, she said the district had hired an outside auditor to review the school's financial records to help with the review.

As The Inquirer has reported, the school district's inspector general is investigating New Media's finances, including allegations that taxpayer money was used to pay expenses for a Mount Airy restaurant operated by Hugh Clark, president of the charter's baord, and Ina Walker, the school's chief executive officer.

Clark and Walker have denied the allegations.

New Media failed to make required payments to the state teachers' retirement system for more than a year. And the school's finances have been so shaky that it has had to borrow money this year just to make payroll.

The school also is under fire from many parents and former teachers, who say the charter never provided promised textbooks, computers and supplies.

New Media enrolled 484 fifth- through 12th-graders students in the academic year just ended. The school, which has campuses Stenton and Germantown, opened in 2004 with promises to teach multimedia skills to students.