By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — A controversial plan to place a charter school inside a building that already holds five high schools will undergo a second round of public review and a new vote by a city panel.
The Department of Education announced Monday that it has added additional details to its a proposal to move Upper West Success Academy charter school into the Brandeis Educational Campus building.
The revisions automatically trigger another public hearing on the space-sharing plan, called a "co-location," and a second vote by the city's Panel for Educational Policy.
The DOE revised the space-sharing plans in response to a lawsuit filed by the teachers' union aimed at blocking several charter school co-locations.
The lawsuit claimed that the DOE based its space-sharing plans on incomplete information about how the move would affect existing schools in the buildings.
In response, the DOE came up with revised space-sharing plans that shed more light on how classroom space would be split among the schools.
"Our number one priority is ensuring that we are providing all of our students with high quality educational options, so we are taking every precaution to ensure these new schools open in the fall and serve the families who have already enrolled," said schools chancellor Dennis Walcott in a statement.
The Panel for Educational Policy first approved Upper West Success Academy's move into the Brandeis building on West 84th Street in February.
The vote, at an emotionally-charged public meeting in Brooklyn, followed months of passionate protests from parents who fear the charter school will drain space and resources away from other schools in the Brandeis building.
But Upper West Success Academy officials say their school is a much-needed alternative in a neighborhood riddled with failing schools. More than 700 students from District 3, which stretches from West 59th to 122nd street, applied for seats at Upper West Success Academy.
The public hearing on the revised plans for Upper West Success Academy's co-location in the Brandeis building is scheduled for June 21 at 6 p.m. at Brandeis, 145 W. 84th Street.
The PEP will vote on the revised space-sharing plan is scheduled for June 27.
