PROVIDENCE — Two new charter schools received preliminary approval yesterday by the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, allowing them to continue planning, find building sites and seek final approval next spring.

Unless state lawmakers vote to extend the moratorium on charter schools, which took effect in 2005 and was extended for the current academic year, it is likely the schools will open next fall, say state education officials.

“It’s a bit of the chicken and the egg discussion, because the moratorium is scheduled to expire in June,” said Peter McWalters, Rhode Island’s education commissioner and a supporter of charter schools. “If you don’t have a school in the pipeline, it is easier to keep the moratorium in place. If you do, then when and if there is a real opportunity to move ahead, you can do that.”

The Segue Institute for Learning, a college preparatory middle school, is targeted for adolescents in Central Falls, and would provide relief for the overcrowded Calcutt Middle School, say supporters. The district has a charter elementary school, The Learning Community, sends some students to the International Charter School in Pawtucket, and also sends students to the Blackstone Charter, a high school in Pawtucket. However, Central Falls has had no charter option for middle school students, said Keith Oliveira, coordinator of the state’s 11 charter schools.

“This would bridge the middle school divide in Central Falls, and provide an option to families who want to keep their children in charters from kindergarten through 12th grade,” Oliveira said.

The Segue Institute would serve sixth through eighth graders and would open with 160 students, gradually reaching a maximum enrollment of 240.

The Urban League Middle College is planned for East Providence and would serve at-risk students in grades 10 through 12. The school is a combination of two earlier proposals — one for a high school that emphasizes science, math and technology and another that would enable students to take college-level course in high school.

If approved, the middle college would start with 136 students and grow to 272 students. Some students would also be permitted to seek a high school diploma through an alternate route of projects and portfolios.

“We think that if these projects continue to develop, they would add greatly to the charter school landscape in Rhode Island,” Oliveira said.

Several other proposals for charter schools have been abandoned or rejected by the Regents over the years, including a proposal to establish an Internet-based high school, and an alternative high school program run by the University of Rhode Island for youth who have been in trouble with the law.

Charter schools are public and paid for with public money from the state and the community where the student lives. They tend to be smaller and free of the bureaucracy of traditional public schools, and are often centers for innovation.

State law limits the number of charter schools to 20, and 11 have opened in the past decade, serving about 2,600 students. Nine charters are in urban districts; two are in South Kingstown. All of Rhode Island’s charter schools are ranked moderately or high performing in the state classification system, and more than 2,100 students are on waiting lists to attend them.

However, groups seeking to slow the growth of charter schools, including teacher unions, succeeded in persuading lawmakers to establish a moratorium three years ago. Lawmakers said they wanted time to study charters and understand their impact.

Governor Carcieri is a supporter of charters and has asked the General Assembly to not extend the moratorium.

Steve Nardelli, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools thanked the Regents for granting preliminary approval.

“Thanks for moving forward,” Nardelli said. “This is sending a strong message that charter schools are working in Rhode Island and that we need more of them.”

jjordan@projo.com