RALEIGH — North Carolina’s statewide school board is getting to work on whether to allow charter schools that operate with fewer rules to offer online-only classes.

The State Board of Education on Friday starts work on figuring out the best rules and needed changes to state law to allow virtual charter schools. The task was assigned by state lawmakers, and recommendations are due before the General Assembly opens its next session in the spring.

The study group hears from a Chapel Hill education research firm about what’s happening with virtual charter schools across the country and what people in North Carolina think.

The meeting comes a week after a state appeals court ruled the state school board was justified when it blocked a company’s bid to establish an online-only charter school.