Thursday, October 1, 2026
A State Supreme Court judge has denied a request to block Diamond Charter School from temporarily relocating from Hempstead to West Hempstead, clearing the way for the school to open this fall while a legal challenge continues.
Albany County Supreme Court Justice Adam W. Silverman issued the decision Aug. 13, denying a preliminary injunction sought by New York State United Teachers, the state teachers union, as well as parents and educators from Hempstead and West Hempstead. The lawsuit challenged the process the State University of New York used to approve Diamond’s temporary relocation.
“We are super excited to open our doors and start a new chapter together,” the organization’s founder, Mark Crusante, told the Herald.
Although Silverman declined to stop the school from opening, he found that the petitioners were likely to succeed on a key part of their case, concluding that SUNY officials likely failed to comply with a mandatory provision of state law.
“Parents, students, educators and entire affected communities have a right to be heard.” NYSUT President Melinda Person wrote in a statement to the Herald. “And it went further: The court found we are likely to prevail on the merits, because the SUNY Charter Schools Institute signed off on this relocation without the community impact analysis state law requires, a failure the court itself called serious.”
Diamond Charter School was authorized by the Charter Schools Institute in 2024, and plans to begin its inaugural school year with students in kindergarten and first grade. The school intends to operate for up to 18 months at the former St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School, on Westminster Road in West Hempstead — in the West Hempstead Union Free School District— while renovations are completed at a permanent location, on Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, roughly seven-tenths of a mile away, but in the Hempstead Union Free School District.
The lawsuit centers on whether SUNY properly approved Diamond’s request to operate temporarily in a different school district. Under state education law, a charter school seeking to relocate to another district must provide an analysis of community support as well as the projected programmatic and fiscal impact on the new district and other schools in the area.
According to the court decision, Diamond did not submit new analyses when it requested approval to temporarily relocate. The SUNY Charter Schools Institute concluded that information from Diamond’s original charter application was sufficient, because the proposed location was nearby and the relocation was temporary.
Silverman disagreed, finding that the law did not provide an exception for temporary moves.
“The statute provides no lesser, no less any different, process for applications to temporarily relocate or hibernate,” Silverman wrote in his decision.
The proposed move had previously faced scrutiny from the New York State Board of Regents, which unanimously returned the proposed charter revision to SUNY for reconsideration in May. SUNY later resubmitted it without modifications, and the proposal was deemed approved by the Board of Regents on July 29.
Despite finding that the petitioners were likely to succeed on the statutory issue, Silverman determined that they had not met the requirements for a preliminary injunction.
The petitioners argued that the relocation could create transportation difficulties, increase traffic and impose additional burdens on the Hempstead and West Hempstead school districts. But the judge found those concerns insufficient to establish the immediate and irreparable harm required to halt the opening.
Timing also played a role in the decision. Diamond told the court that it had already spent more than $1 million preparing to open, and that employees had accepted positions. With the opening weeks away, Silverman determined that preventing Diamond from using the West Hempstead site could substantially disrupt students, families and staff.
“We’re disappointed the school will open while the case proceeds, but this fight is far from over,” Person said. “Communities deserve a real voice before a charter school comes to their district, and we will see this case through.”
The ruling does not end the lawsuit. Silverman denied SUNY’s request to dismiss the case, found that the petitioners had standing and ordered the SUNY respondents to answer the petition within 60 days.
For now, Diamond can continue preparing to welcome students at the West Hempstead location next month while the lawsuit over SUNY’s approval of the move continues.
“Now that that’s done, we will open our doors and we will sort of show what we are able to do and what we’ve always talked about,” Crusante said, “which is a commitment to the student and commitment to our families.”
Diamond Charter School is set to open Sept. 1.
SUNY did not respond for comment as of press time.
