AUGUSTA — A state board has voted to approve two more charter schools in Maine, according to The Portland Press Herald.

The schools approved Tuesday as well as a school approved last month will be the state’s first charter schools. Forty states already allow them.

Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of the local school district.

The schools approved by the Maine Charter School Commission include a science-oriented high school in Portland to be known as the Baxter Academy School of Technology and Science, and an elementary school in Cornville.

Last month, the commission approved plans for the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, a magnet school that has operated since September in Fairfield.

The Portland Press Herald reports that Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen welcomed the news, saying charter schools foster “innovation and flexibility.”