AUGUSTA (AP) — A second virtual public charter school in Maine is getting the green light.
In a 6-1 vote on Thursday, the Maine Charter School Commission voted to enter into contract negotiations with the Maine Virtual Academy.
Virtual charter schools are run remotely, using distance-learning technology, and are run by private corporations.
Plans are for the school to start with 279 seventh-through ninth-graders and later expand up through grade 12.
Maine’s first virtual charter school, Maine Connections Academy, opened this fall and has enrolled students from 86 of the state’s school districts.
Maine’s charter school law signed by Republican Gov. Paul LePage in 2011 allows the commission to approve up to 10 charter schools. There are currently six operating in the state, including Maine Connections Academy, serving nearly 900 students.
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