The Academy of Moore County won a preliminary victory today in its legal battle to keep the charter school open.

Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison Jr. granted The Academy’s motion to stay the State Board of Education’s action, which keeps the school’s charter in place until a final ruling on the merits of the case is made. The State Board voted at its March meeting not to renew the Academy’s charter, citing low academic performance.

Without the stay, the charter would have expired on June 30, effectively shutting the school down.

Kieran Shanahan, the Raleigh attorney representing the Academy, praised Morrison’s ruling after the hearing, saying he used “practical and common sense judgment.”

“I think he ruled in favor not only of the school, but the children, the community,” he said. “It should be a happy day both for the Academy and the 170 kids that go to school there.”

A full hearing on the merits of the case — to determine if the state board acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in deciding not to renew the Academy’s charter — is expected to take place sometime in August.