AUGUSTA — The board that oversees Maine charter schools has recommended approval of an application from Maine Virtual Academy, which wants to open the state’s second online charter school.

The Maine Charter School Commission will vote Thursday on a recommendation to authorize contract negotiations between the state and Maine Virtual Academy. The academy must get at least five votes from the seven commission members for its charter to be approved.

The current application is the third by Maine Virtual Academy. Its board withdrew its first application in 2013 and had its second application rejected by the commission last spring over concerns about local control.

Peter Mills, who serves as secretary of Maine Virtual Academy’s School Board, tells the Portland Press Herald the school is for student in grades 7 through 12.