The Charter Schools Committee voted 4-to-1 Wednesday to send Gainesville’s application to the full state board. The panel also voted 3-to-2 to approve the Marietta city systems application and 5-to-0 on the application of the Decatur city schools.

An application by the Chattahoochee County school district was delayed.

The action followed a recommendation by a separate advisory panel to approve the applications.

The State Board of Education has both committee and full board meetings today in Atlanta.

The board also is set to consider today the Hall County school system’s first application for a charter school, World Languages Academy, which is scheduled to open in the fall. The school will be in the former Chestnut Mountain Elementary School, which is moving to a new 900-student building off Union Church Road.

The academy will feature instruction of state-mandated, elementary-school curriculum in English and Spanish, beginning in early grades at first and eventually as a kindergarten through fifth-grade school.

"There was a tremendous amount of excitement ... among state board members," said Will Schofield, superintendent of Hall County schools. "... It looks like it’s finally going to happen officially (today)."