The Rome Board of Education held an early morning meeting Thursday so that board members could sign their support of an effort to give local school systems control of state-created charter schools in their respective areas.

Eight school systems challenged in the Superior Court of Fulton County the law that creates the Georgia Charter School Commission, which allows groups denied a charter school by the local system to ask the state commission. If approved by the commission, funding for the charter school would then be diverted from the local school system but without giving that system any control of the school.

The Fulton Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Georgia Charter School Commission and the case is now on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia School Superintendents Association asked lawyer Phil Hartley to prepare an amicus brief supporting the position of the school systems. The two education groups requested that as many school systems as possible in Georgia join in the filing of the amicus brief.

And that is what the Rome BOE officially did Thursday.

Superintendent Gayland Cooper said the move is merely one of support and does not mean the local system is contributing any money to the effort. He said the board is behind the brief because schools funding with local dollars should have local control.

Spokesman Tim Hensley said members of the Floyd County Board of Education were aware of the brief but have not yet discussed the issue as a group.