An Albany County judge denied the state's largest teachers' union a preliminary injunction to stop Diamond Charter School from opening this fall at a temporary West Hempstead site while its approved Hempstead Village location is renovated. Acting Supreme Court Justice Adam Silverman ruled that blocking the opening now would only disrupt families and staff who had already planned around it.
New York State United Teachers had argued SUNY, which approved the location change, skipped required public participation steps; SUNY conceded some documentation on community support and fiscal impact wasn't resubmitted, but the judge found that insufficient to block the change. He also noted the two sites are just 0.7 miles apart and only five West Hempstead residents had actually applied to attend.
The union, which has separately sued SUNY over the state charter cap, did not comment on the ruling. The school's executive director said the fight was about educational options, not politics.
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