By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Both sides in the legal battle to block a controversial Upper West Side charter school are due to file arguments as a new deadline approaches — but it's unlikely the judge will weigh in immediately, leaving parents whose kids have been admitted in limbo as the new school year looms closer.
Parents whose children have been accepted at Upper West Success Academy rallied last month to defend the school, and spokeswoman Kerri Lyon has said that parents whose children have been accepted to the school will be left with few options if the lawsuit succeeds.
Attorneys for both sides say they're hoping the court will schedule oral arguments in the next two to three weeks, but no date has been set. It's also possible the judge could decide the matter without holding hearings, attorneys said. Tuesday marks the last day for both parties to submit motion papers in the lawsuit.
Upper West Success, which received more than 700 applications for 184 kindergarten and first-grade seats, unleashed a torrent of opposition when it announced its plan to share space with five high schools inside the Brandeis campus.
Critics filed suit against the Department of Education to try to stop the academy, which is part of the Success Charter Network, from moving into the Brandeis Educational Campus building on West 84th Street.
Upper West Side parents who see the charter school as a threat to existing public schools say the charter school will siphon resources away from schools in the Brandeis building, but not everyone in the Brandeis building agrees.
Richard Kahan, founder and CEO of The Urban Assembly, submitted a statement to the court supporting Upper West Success Academy. The non-profit Urban Assembly runs the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers in the Brandeis building.
"In my view, the type of school with with we share space, whether district or charter, is not important," Kahan said in a court filing. "What matters most is whether they are schools with strong and inspired leadership that can contribute to an overall culture of excellence and high expectations. I believe Success Academy is one such school."
Critics of charter schools have succeeded in stopping other charter schools from sharing space with existing public schools. The state Department of Education recently overturned a decision to move a charter school into P.S. 9 in Brooklyn.
