A lawsuit filed by a Mt. Airy resident against the School District of Philadelphia is now scheduled for trial in July of 2027.

Delise Williams, a Democratic committeeperson, sued the district in June over its Facilities Master Plan, specifically its intention to merge Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice into Martin Luther King High School. Williams claims the district violated the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 and failed to hand over existing public records that she requested.

Williams, who’s representing herself and has no law degree, attempted to halt the district’s plan to move Parkway Northwest by filing an emergency petition for an injunction, which the judge denied on Aug. 24.

The school district filed a preliminary objection to Williams’ complaint in July, asking the judge to dismiss the case. If the judge grants the objection, the case will be thrown out, a spokesperson for the courts told the Local. Otherwise, it will go to trial in July.

Williams believes that is too late because the merger is expected to occur at the start of the 2027-28 school year, which usually occurs in late August.

“It’s not a fair hearing, because it’s already been done,” she said. “I can’t unring that bell.”

She said she plans to request an earlier date or file for a preliminary injunction to freeze the district’s plan for now. Williams tried to expedite the case before but the judge noted that the district had stated that “no action will be taken in this matter until after the 2026-27 school year.”

The lawsuit alleges that the school district violated the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, which states that officials must hold a public meeting about a school closure at least 90 days before voting on it. When the board of education approved its Facilities Masters Plan on April 30, they failed to honor the statutory timeline, Williams argued.

The district plans to close Parkway Northwest and convert it into an honors program at Martin Luther King starting in the 2027-28 school year. Building 21 Philadelphia will then move to Martin Luther King in 2032-33.

Williams, who previously worked for Martin Luther King School and the district, also claimed that she wasn’t provided school safety reports requested by the Office of Open Records. The state Public School Code mandates that public school entities file reports on school safety incidents every year.

“I have to just keep moving, keep believing, keep studying and keep doing the very best,” she said.

Williams worries the plan will put Parkway Northwest students’ safety at risk and will negatively affect the handful of students who are enrolled in a dual program with La Salle College High School, a college preparatory school in Wyndmoor. She currently operates a mentorship program at Parkway Northwest, and worked at Martin Luther King High School from 2012-2018, managing students from the criminal justice system. Williams organized a “bully-proof ambassador club” in response to the amount of violence at the school. At community meetings, Parkway Northwest students have expressed concerns for their safety as well.

The school district’s attorneys, Allison Petersen and Michael Kristofco, said on Aug. 24 that the Parkway Northwest building will not close and will be used by the district as a swing space. They argue that under the law, that does not constitute a permanent school closure. The attorneys also argue that the April 30 plan approval did not qualify as a permanent closure decision, and that the law mandates the school look for records, not create them. Williams is adamant that those safety records already exist.

Williams said at the hearing that the merger may affect Parkway Northwest students’ college admission chances, because universities will look at Martin Luther King High data, not Parkway Northwest. The attorneys disagreed.

“The fact that their diploma will say Martin Luther King will not stop them from receiving the money, getting into the colleges they choose, having the same GPA and putting the work in that they would otherwise be putting in in a different building,” Kristofco said.

In late August, the school district announced it would establish transition committees for the 17 schools that are closing under the Facilities Master Plan. The committees will include 20 people per school. Applications for the committees close on Sept. 18.

Kristofco said the committee for Parkway Northwest will help compile a plan for the merger over the next year, and that will include assessing safety risks.

Other Northwest Philadelphia schools that are set to close include Lankenau Environmental Magnet High School in Roxborough, Samuel Pennypacker School in West Oak Lane, Fitler Academics Plus in Germantown, and the Academy for the Middle Years at Northwest in Roxborough.