COMPTON, Calif.—A Los Angeles judge has temporarily blocked the Compton Unified School District from implementing a complicated process to verify signatures on a petition submitted by parents to convert a failing elementary school to an independent charter.

Mark Holscher, lawyer for six parents and their children, says Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien granted the temporary injunction Thursday morning, after the parents filed a lawsuit against the district.

The next court hearing on the lawsuit will be Feb. 24.

The lawsuit was sparked by the district's move to verify signatures on a petition submitted by 61 percent of parents at McKinley Elementary School in December, stating they want the school to be turned over to an independent