ATLANTA — The Georgia school board has approved the state's second district to join a new program freeing schools from many education mandates.

The board voted 11-1 on Thursday to allow the Forsyth County school district to enter into a "flexibility contract" with the state. The contracts give districts a break from state requirements like class size and teacher pay in exchange for promises that students will perform better than is required under the federal No Child Left Behind standards.

Gwinnett County, the state's largest district with 158,000 students, was the first to enter into such a contract based on a 2008 state law.

Forsyth County schools have about 32,500 students.