The Roanoke School Board voted unanimously Wednesday morning to move Blue Ridge Technical Academy's career and technical programs into Patrick Henry High School for the upcoming school year.

The vote means that after this school year, Blue Ridge, a regional charter school housed in the Roanoke Higher Education Center, will no longer operate as a separate high school. Its students will attend their home schools -- William Fleming or Patrick Henry high schools -- for the first part of the school day to take core classes. Those at William Fleming will then be bused to Patrick Henry's Gibboney Hall during the midday bridge class to attend a half-day of career and technical classes with the students who already attend Patrick Henry.

Both schools will have transition coordinators to monitor the students' progress.

Because Blue Ridge is a regional school, some of its students live outside the city of Roanoke. School Board Chairwoman Kathy Stockburger said Wednesday that the school system will make every effort to keep those students in the program.