By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — When Jeff Holman found out his daughter had moved off the waitlist and won a seat at charter school Upper West Success Academy, he didn't exactly celebrate.
"I wasn't sure what it meant," Holman said. "You're off the waitlist for a school that might not exist. I guess that's good news. It's better than being on the wait list for a school that might not exist."
As the school year draws to a close, Holman is one of dozens of parents in limbo because they don't know if Upper West Success Academy will open on this fall.
The controversial charter school is the target of two lawsuits seeking to block it from opening inside the Brandeis Educational Campus, where it would share space with five other schools.
Last month a judge ordered a temporary halt on the construction needed to move Upper West Success Academy into the Brandeis building. That order expires July 1, and lawyers for parents who oppose the school are expected to ask the court to extend it at a June 30 hearing.
Attorneys for the parents who sued to stop the charter school from moving into the Brandeis Educational Campus say they will also ask the judge to reverse a Monday night vote by a city panel that approved Upper West Success Academy's move into the building.
Attorney Marc Landis said there wasn't enough public review before the vote. "We view [the] vote as improper and illegal, and we'll seek to have it reversed by the court," Landis said.
Meanwhile, the teachers union also filed suit to stop several charter schools, including Upper West Success Academy, from moving into buildings with other public schools, a process known as "co-location."
The teachers union filed a similar lawsuit last year aimed at halting the closure of public schools, and succeeded in keeping them open.
The legal wrangling has been disheartening for parents like Holman, who see Upper West Success Academy as a welcome addition to public school options on the Upper West Side.
Holman's daughter was zoned for P.S. 163, but seeking something better, the family moved from West 99th and Broadway to West 68th Street and Central Park West hoping that 5-year-old Sofia would get into the well-regarded P.S. 199.
She was waitlisted, then eventually offered a spot, but by then Sofia had been accepted into P.S. 9's gifted and talented program, so the family moved back to their old building on West 99th Street.
"We thought about leaving the city," Holman said. "If we hadn't gotten a spot at P.S. 199 or at P.S. 9's gifted and talented program, we'd be off in the suburbs right now. There's a lot of pain among public school parents."
Holman applied for Upper West Success Academy when he heard that P.S. 9's gifted and talented program might get cut. It eventually was, but kindergarteners like Sofia were allowed to remain in the program.
That means Holman considers himself luckier than other Upper West Success Academy parents, because he has a viable back-up plan for his daughter.
"We have a back-up spot, but it's a lot of uncertainty that's dragging out and it doesn’t seem to be for valid reasons," Holman said.
Daniella Ballou-Aares' daughter, Sabine, has been asking about once a week where she'll be going to school in the fall. Sabine, who's 4 years old, has a slot at Upper West Success Academy and her best friend is on the waiting list.
"She keeps asking, 'What school am I going to go to? Is my friend going to be there?'" Ballou-Aares said. "She clearly wants to know and she doesn't understand why I don't have an answer to that question. Everyone else's parents have an answer for that."
The lawsuits aiming to stop Upper West Success Academy from moving into the Brandeis building argue children at existing public schools suffer when charter schools move into their buildings, because charter schools are given more room and resources such as cafeteria space and playground time.
Yovanka Bylander, whose daughter, Annabelle, has a seat at Upper West Success Academy, says she's willfully ignoring the possibility that the charter school might not open.
Instead, she's choosing only to focus on the idea that her daughter will get a top-notch education at Upper West Success Academy, she said.
Bylander said she doesn't understand the arguments against the charter school sharing space with existing public schools.
"A charter school is a public school," Bylander said. "I really look forward to working with the parents in the Brandeis building and creating an entire school community that can work together. There's a lot to be learned when schools co-locate. There’s a lot more positives than negatives."
