001Uh, this public hearing pursuant to school code section 7780 relating to the possible closure of the Charles Kelly Elementary School shall come to order. My name is Kyle Berman. I am the general solicitor for the Upper Derby School District and tonight will serve as the presiding officer for this hearing. I while I note for the record that members of the public sorry members of the board are present in the room for this hearing, they're not with me at the board table. They will have a full opportunity to review the record of these proceedings prior to any decisions for the school's re uh sorry decisions on the school's closure. As further explanation for why we're here today, the purpose of this meeting is part of the process to consider the official closure of the existing Charles
002Kelly Elementary School located at 3400 Dennis Avenue, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. At least one possible plan under consideration by the board calls for the closure of the school and reassignment of the students currently attending there. To fulfill the board's obligations and that are relating to this step of the process, we have convened this hearing under section 780 of the Pennsylvania public school code of 1949 as amended. There the school code provides that a public hearing is required whenever a board is considering a closure of a public school. That hearing shall not be less than three months prior to any final decision of the board calling for such closing. Therefore, the board of school directors will not be making a formal decision this evening whether the existing elementary school will or will not be closed. Instead, for
003the next 3 months, you and any members of the public will have an ongoing opportunity to comment and raise questions regarding this issue before the board will be permitted to take a final vote. Tonight, the centerpiece of the hearing will be the presentation by the administration to give information about the proposal and to hear from community members. I will note now and will repeat later that this is an opportunity for members of the public to voice their thoughts, but it's not the place or time for a dialogue. Moreover, even if you do not speak tonight, you will you may still submit your thoughts in writing for the board's consideration before it decides this issue, which I believe is in April. I think it's April. Uh so before we go any further, there are a few
004items that I have to enter into the record. First, I've had marked as exhibit A a board resolution that was passed in December uh in the form of a certification. This resolution authorized and directed various steps, including this hearing relating to the closure of the Charles Kelly Elementary School. The resolution was adopted by the board at its regular advertised meeting on December 17th, 2024. That'll be for you. Second, I've had marked as exhibit B the proof of publication of the advertisement for tonight's hearing. According to this document, the advertisement appeared in the Delaware County Daily Times, a newspaper of general circulation within the district, on January 6th, 2025, which is at least 15 days prior to tonight's meeting. Third, and finally, I note that on January 21st, 2025, I sent notices to the dis on
005the district's behalf to the various planning commissions of the board's potential action. A copy of that certified letter with attachments will be entered as exhibit C. I will also supplement exhibit C with any delivery notifications and responses when received. Next on the agenda is a short presentation by the administrative team which will delve into the basis for the administration's statement to close the school. And for that I'll turn it over to Mr. Marshallac and his team. >> Thank you, Mr. Burman. This evening we will discuss the sun setting of Charles Kelly Elementary School. And to start we will review the rationale, short-term planning goals, change in catchment areas, transportation operations considerations, transition planning, and timeline. As you can see on the slide, there are mainly five parts of the administration's rationale to sunset Charles Kelly
006Elementary School. They are Charles Kelly Elementary School became a school in August of 2007 to ease overcrowding. The building property is not owned by the school district, which limits our ability to improve physical space. The current lease expires on June 30th, 2025. The closure would provide the opportunity for students to potentially attend schools closer to their homes. And lastly, uncertainties related to public school funding. Next slide. Short-term planning goals. The district is focused on achieving short-term planning goals that will optimize resources, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the educational experience for students. Eliminate the lease for Charles Kelly Elementary School. Transitioning students from Charles Kelly to the district-owned stu schools will reduce costs and ensure long-term sustainability by utilizing facilities that are already within the district's possession. Transition all students to district-owned schools or properties. Every
007student will be assigned to a district-owned school, providing consistency in facilities and fostering a greater sense of community within district operated schools. Revise elementary school catchment areas. This will affect policy 206. Potentially updates to the catchment areas for Ronic, Charles Kelly, Highland Park, Hillrest, and Stoner Hills elementary schools will balance enrollment and align resources effectively. As part of the district's effort to optimize resources and balance enrollment across schools, adjustments will be made to the elementary's catchment areas. The Charles Kell Elementary students in the 2025 2026 school year for students entering grades 1 through five will transition to Highland Park and Stoner Hills Elementary School, ensuring adequate capacity and resources. Kindergarten students will continue to attend the kindergarten center. Stoners Hill students completing fifth grade in the 2025 20226 school year will move on to Beverly
008Hills Middle School for the 2026 20227 school year. Highland Park students completing fifth grade into the 202526 school year move on to Drexler Hill Middle School for the 2026 2022 school year. This is assuming that the the Clifton Heights Middle School will open on time for the 2026 2027 school year. for Highland Park students. In the 2025 2026, some students in grades 1 through 5 will transition to Hillrest Elementary School, ensuring a balanced enrollment and effective use of space. Kindergarten students will continue to attend the kindergarten center. After fifth grade, these students will move on to Drexel Hill Middle School for the 2026 2022 school year. Again, assuming that the Clifton Heights Middle School opens on time for the 2026 2027 school year, in the event that the Clifton Heights Middle School does not open
009on time for the fall of 2026, the Charles Kelly students who would attend Highland Park for fifth grade will attend Beverly Hills Middle School to start middle school. And the Highland Park students who would attend Hillrest for fifth grade would attend Beverly Hills Middle School to start middle school until a plan is formulated as to when Clifton Heights Middle School would open. For Hillrest Elementary students, some students in kindergarten through fifth grade will transition to Aronomic Elementary School, integrating all grade levels within one building. Kindergarten students will attend Aronomic Elementary School and after fifth grade, these students will advance to Drexel Hill Middle School for the 2026 2027 school year. I'm going turn over to Mr. Lambert who will talk about the catchment areas. Good evening. Over the next couple slides, I'll be showing you
010several maps to help visualize where the proposed changes will be occurring throughout the district. We'll begin by by providing a review of our elementary school catchment zones, which is up on the map right now. Then show the areas that will be affected by the proposed changes. This will be followed by showing how the proposed changed areas will specifically affect the elementary, kindergarten, and middle school catchment areas. Since not everyone here or online may be familiar with the differences between catchments and feeder patterns, let me start by defining what they are. Catchment areas, also known as catchment zones, attendance zones, school boundaries, or most commonly referred to as just catchments, are geographic areas that define what neighborhood school a student would attend based on their home address. Catchments are either continuous, where the area is spatially
011continuous, or non-ontinuous, meaning it's spatially fragmented. As the map shows, most of our schools have continuous catchments. However, there are four that do not. Primos, Charles Kelly, Aronomic, and the kindergarten center. Also, catchments can either have an internal location, which means the physical school building is located within the catchment, or an external location, meaning the school is physically located outside the catchment. All Upper Derby schools are located within the catchment area they serve, with the exception of Charles Kelly, which is located in the Gaford catchment, and there are no walking students, and everyone is bust. Feeder patterns describe the progression of students as they move from one school to another through the grades. These patterns are closely tied to the catchment areas and consist of both sending and receiving schools. A feeder pattern defines where
012students in a terminal grade such as fifth grade would attend the following year. For example, a fifth grade student at Primos Elementary would feed into Drexel Hill Middle School. A school-tochool feeder means all the students in the terminal grade will feed into the same school. While a split pattern, I'm sorry, split feeder pattern is where students in the terminal grade will feed into two or more different schools. The easiest way to think of this is that the high school has two feeder schools and each of the middle schools feed into the high school. There are exceptions to students attending their catchment school or following the feeder pattern. These exceptions include students attending a special education silo program or students in special circumstances. This slide shows the areas where the proposed changes will occur. These are
013highlighted with the white cross-hatching. The map also shows the elementary school catchments grades 1 through 5 since that is where the majority of the proposed student movement will occur. Specifically, you will see the location of the Charles Kelly School is within the Garrettford catchment while its non-ontinuous catchment is located on the east side of the district. With the proposed closure of Charles Kelly, each of the three catchment zones will be merged into other schools. However, the addition of Charles Kelly students into existing schools will necessitate the shifting of students at some of those receiving schools to adjacent schools. This means part of the existing Highland Park and Hillrest catchments will shift counterclockwise. This map shows the results of the proposed changes to areas on elementary schools. Charles Kelly catchment will be removed and merged into
014Stonehurst Hills and Highland Park. The two catchment areas south of Marshall Road will be assigned to Stonehurst Elementary School. You can see in the bottom right in that um aqua color. Um the catchment area north of Westchester Pike Market Street which includes Milbour Milbourne Burrow and Upper Derby Township east of State Road will be assigned to the Highland Park Elementary School. An area in of Highland Park would be shifted to Hillrest and an area of Hillrest will be shifted to Aronomic. This map shows how the changes will affect our five kindergarten catchment zones. The kindergarten catchment area for kindergarten center, Westbrook Park and Primos will remain the same. Both Hillrest and Oran currently have kindergarten. So the change area associated with that shift would include kindergarten students. Therefore, changing the kindergarten catchment zones for those
015two schools. This is the only kindergarten catchment change to the current kindergarten catchments. Kindergarten students who live within the highland park catchment area and attend the kindergarten center will continue to do do so. That will not change. These students will continue to attend kindergarten at the kindergarten center and feed into Hillrest for first grade instead of Highland Park. The middle school catchment will remain the same and there will be no immediate impact on the students. All the current Highland Park fifth graders will feed into Beverly Hills Middle School as if there were no changes, including the area designated for Hillrest. Additionally, any middle school students who move into the changed area next year will also attend Beverly Hills. Technically, the area shifting from Highland Park to Hillrest will have resulted in a split feeder for
016next year's fifth grades graders at Hillrest. However, with the opening of Clifton Heights Middle School in 2627, both Highland Park and Hillrest will feed into Drexel Hill Middle School along with Aronomic. Therefore, whether you are a fifth grader at Hillrest that was part of the proposed catchment shift from Highland Park or a fifth grader at Highland Park that was not part of the change, all all those fifth graders will be attending Drexel Hill Middle School the following year. Which brings us to our last map. This map shows the proposed feeder pattern for the Clifton Heights Middle School once it is complete. There are two items of note. The first is that the section of Charles Kelly's catchment potentially assigned to Highland Park will feed into Drexel Hill Middle School, ensuring a a school-to-school feeder pattern.
017The second is that the only elementary split feeder pattern after the new middle school is complete will be the continuation of parts of Aronomic feeding into Drexel Hill Middle School and Beverly Hills Middle School. There will be operational impacts in transportation services and facilities management. In transportation, we expect to have a net reduction of approximately 55 transportation eligible students. So, we will be able to reallocate at least one bus run to other transportation requirements, but it is not a financial savings. More than likely, we will use the additional capacity to meet the special education transportation requirement. We also expect we also expect our schools to be more accessible in general to our students and families by moving out of Charles Kelly property. One thing we have to plan ahead um through the school bus stop
018arm violation detection program. We recently found more than 20% of the total stop arm violations are detected in the current Charles Kelly catchment area. So we will need to allocate additional crossing guard guards to provide safer walking distance of uh safer walking path to our students. As of now Charles students are 100% 100% transported to and from schools by six school buses. Unfortunately these students often have to wait until after 400 p.m. to get on the bus to go home. But after the move, the transportation pressure will be significantly relieved. In facilities management, we expect to realize approximately $460,000 in annual savings from lease payment, insurance premium, cleaning contract, and general repair and maintenance. Finally, school district owned properties generally have better school facilities. Our students will not have to cross the street to go
019to a playground. And all our school gyms have proper ceiling heights. And we also have more reliable electrical employment infrastructure in our buildings. To support a smooth transition and foster a sense of belonging, the district will implement a variety of community- based initiatives. On the screen you can see are a few examples of the events that could be considered as we develop a transition plan for our students and our families. um events such as virtual student meet and greets, joint home and school association meetings, virtual or and or inerson tours and uh and joint social events. Next slide. District has established a very clear timeline to ensure a thoughtful and organized process for reviewing the proposed changes. Starting with tonight in January 20th, 2025, there is a public hearing. The public hearing will be held
020to present the proposed changes and gather community feedback. Starting tonight through April 29th, 2025 is the comment period. Stake crows will have the opportunity to provide input during this period by emailing their comments and questions to Charles Kelly hearing at Upper Derby School District or upper derby sd.org. On April 29th, 2025 will be potential uh board action. The board will review all feedback and decide on proposed changes during this meeting. April 30th and beyond, staff meetings will begin. Following board action, um meetings will st meetings with staff will begin to ensure a clear communication on the next steps if that's a direction that the board chooses to go. From April 30th through August 2025, we'll begin our transition planning. A detailed transition plan for each building and each and students will take place in preparation
021for the start of the new school year. That concludes our presentation for this evening. At this time, I'll turn the hearing back to Mr. Burman. >> Thank you. The next item on the agenda is public comment. Starting with the first person signed up to speak, each person wishing to speak may do so for up to three minutes, then must give up the floor to the next person who signed up. Once everyone who has signed up has spoken, we'll then determine if there's time for additional comments. We will not be reading remote comments this evening, but all comments submitted in writing following this hearing and until April 29th will be read and considered by the board. If you have a comment, you're required to stand up, come to the microphone, speak slowly, state your name, spell
022your name, and give your address. Remember, the court stenographer is trying to create a record of this hearing. But if you speak too quickly, too softly, or otherwise unclearly, your comments as they appear in the record might not reflect what you intended to say. Finally, keep in mind that the purpose of this portion of the hearing is for the board to hear your comments and concerns. Stated another way, it's not an opportunity to discuss or debate issues, but instead to get feedback from you, the public, who will be impacted by any decision made. Neither the board nor those administrators present will be able to respond to questions posed to them at this time, although the administration will likely attempt to clarify items and address any concerns later outside of this hearing. With that, the first
023person to sign up is Linda Fox, the UDEA president. >> Good evening. My name is Linda Fox. I am the Upper Derby Education Association President. Before I begin my remarks, Mr. Marshallac, members of central administration, Mr. Burman, President Dooyers, and board members, I would like to introduce you to the faculty and staff of Charles Kelly Elementary School. As you can tell, they have some serious school pride. I have been asked by the Charles Kelly staff to read a statement on their behalf. Please note that as a union, we have not gone through the steps required to take a stand on this issue. Therefore, we do not have a formal stance regarding this proposal. Our interest is strictly with the welfare of union members, working with administration to make sure all teachers have a position and
024ensuring members concerns are given voice. The remarks I am about to share are from the Charles Kelly faculty. We ask the board to consider merging Charles Kelly versus redistricting and closing the community. If the physical building is to be closed, which is traumatic for students and families, it would be in the best interest to consider merging to keep students with staff who are familiar with them. We do not want to undervalue the power of connection. Every day, older students wish to reconnect with their first grade teacher. Previous years Teachers consult with current teachers to best support student learning. One of the most powerful tools in education is having a student feel known and keeping staff and students together will meet that goal. Change is hard and having a merger plan will ease the minds of
025students, families, and staff. Also, we ask that any change to the community be planned for the 2627 school year, respectfully submitted for your consideration. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> My name is Mary Jane Dorso. M A R Y J A N E D apostrophe capital U R SO. I'm a resident of Clifton Heights. >> Do I need you? >> No, that's fine. Since the district has been leasing the building of Charles Kelly, many decisions to spend money, many new administrators jobs have been created. In this new building, for example, the money could have and should have been put aside for a new school for the children before recklessly spending. This plan is rushed and has many gaps. The most vulnerable students in Upper Derby need advocates for the best decisions to be made on
026their behalf. Smaller class size and dedicated staff are just a few of the hidden gems at Charles Kelly. The staff at Charles Kelly has 100% retention. The teachers do not want to leave this school. The most recent leadership with Dana Williams and Cynthia Milford has solidified the future of this small but mighty school. These students are the most traumatized and underserved in the district. I understand this change not only affects Charles Kelly students. It will cause a domino effect for Highland Park, Hillrest, Aronomic, and Stonehurst. There have been issues with the building, plumbing being one. But this could be better resolved if there were more licensed plumbers in the district instead of one for the entire district. Over the years, many facilit improvements have been made to this building. Paint tile floors, keyless security entrance,
027automatic shut off faucets in primary bathrooms, and a large TV monitor in the library lobby. During CO, the district installed cameras in every classroom. These are examples to show that these students are worthy of improvement then and they still are worthy of the district's attention at a cost that has already been manageable. This district needs to implement the current projects first. Complete the construction and opening of the new middle school successfully, then focus on how to best help the elementary students. I've worked in this district for 33 years, 17 at Charles Kelly. I want to continue to be a proud member of the Upper Derby School District community. And I want to read from um the Daily Times from Monday, August 28th. Um and these this was a scenario 32. Close both Charles Kelly and
028Senko elementary schools. put an addition on the Garrettford Elementary and build an entirely new school at the playgrounds on 69th Street. At minimum, we need a new elementary school in this district to aliate the capacity issues that we have. And this was said by Dr. McGarry is we need a new school in this district and this is getting us there. Thank you. My name is Fifi Guan spelled F E F E. Last name is G W Y A N. I'm a parent and a resident of Upper Derby School District. >> What se section of the >> 220 Lara Drive, Lancetown, PA? Why not? Yes. Thank you. >> Um thanks for having me. the community that uh received the communication that the community received concerning the proposed closer Charles Kelly in um Charles Kelly Elementary School
029as a sunset. It's really not a sunset for us. It's pretty much a barrier proposal for the child's Kelly Elementary School. students were not aware of this proposal in good time. Um, we do not want to be separated. We want our students, the parents to stay together. Moving students to other buildings just to fill classroom sizes will not improve learning environment or test scores. Our most needy students including my son Danti will be moved into bigger classroom groups with no support as we can see now. I mean you have one student I mean one teacher to one class with no sub teachers. The district should really be looking towards adding additional support in the classroom at Charles Kelly instead of moving into bigger groups. It will not benefit these kids. it will only decline them.
030Um the district prides itself in equity. Where is the equity for our students in this situation? Administration keeps comparing this proposed closure to SOR. It is completely different as Sor was not within the district. It is also said that administration wanted Sor back into the district. staff was made aware of that closure with a lot of notice given to your staff. This is not the same for Charles Kelly Elementary School. The kids will have an extremely difficult time transitioning. We have I remember going to the district office for my kid um two years ago in tears but was made comfortable when the um district administration told me we have child. It's a smaller environment. And these teachers are very great. It's a community where they know each other. Every single child I walk within Charles
031Kelly from day one grow. And you can actually see the growth from one teacher to another up to graduation day. That's what these kids need. They need smaller environment to thrive. They need teacher that understand their needs and a community that support them regardless of them being a direct instructor or not. And we're asking this district to please keep Charles Kelly family together in the event that you decide to transition. It should be a group move, not two years in Hillrest or Stone Stonehurst and then we bring them back or just separated. That is not that's not that's not that should not be an option. Thank you. Satie Thomas, Houston Road, Pemrook section. Um, >> I'm sorry. Can you uh spell your name as well? >> Oh, Sadie. S A D I E Thomas. T
032H O M- S. >> Um, are we able to put the catchment maps back up real quick? Okay. Um, as you all already know, we're not a community, as in we're not neighbors. We're not near each other. I we have to make plans to send our kids to go play with one of their school friends and that's always been a big drawback. I fought to get a new building which has not happened yet. I was here a month ago and I said about how bad the conditions are at our current building. This is our school. Everybody here you see in purple. It's not the building we're in. It's not so much where we live. Mrs. Williams um Mr. Highland before her both did a lot to try to make sure that we could have activities
033together, to try to find a place where we could all meet to be together as a class, as a conjoined neighborhood for something outside of the school. Um, I said I live in Pemrook. That is that skinny little section that looks like a funny boot as Dr. Manfrey likes to put it. I it is not a safe walking area to the school. Transportation has told um I know our catchment and the which used to be Fernwood by the way. Um and the Keystone catchment which is all the way up top there includes Melbourne and over where the firehouse and police station are that we're going to be walking to the school. Now when you take a straight line from the school edge of the school property to our homes in the Fernwood catchment, we all
034live somewhere between 6 and 0.9 miles from the school walking distance. You cannot walk there in less than 1.2 miles. I looked at the Fernwood catch or I looked at the Keystone catchment using the police station because that used to be the physical school there to go to Highland Park and um State Road is.7 miles, excuse me, and the police station is 1.2 miles straight shot down Westchester Pike to Highland Park Elementary School. Now, I don't know where exactly the catchment's going to be. You guys said state road, so maybe there's a few blocks in there that will actually be walking, but the rest of us will not be walking to school. There is no way to get there. Um, trying to put in a walking path for in GPS. We walk either all the
035way up WCOM to Marshall down to 69th Street. Come down 69th Street to the cross street. And I'm really sorry, I'm not good with names. To go back up the hill to the school where we walk all the way down. >> Please wind it. >> Thank you. We walk all the way down Penrook and up 69th Street. None of them are safe options for any of us. Joe Clark, C L A R K 75 Houston Road, Lancetown Post Office, Upper Derby. Um, sorry. uh the overcrowding. You you guys, you know, have stuffed our kids into a makeshift school for 20 years um and pretty much ignored our neighborhoods that not necessarily these guys now been present, but the school district as a whole for 50 60 years has done everything they can to just simply
036ignore the problem. Um now you guys, you know, promised for the last eight years a new school and new school and new school. Now we're not getting a new school. We're getting stuffed back into an already overcrowded school that's already run down, already needs work, already has roast infestations and other problems. Um, IEP concerns. My 10-year-old would not be going to middle school next year if he wasn't in Charles Kelly with a 16-1 class size. If he was in Stonehurst with the 23-1 class size that my seven-year-old will have next year, he'd be he'd be failing. he'd probably still be in third grade, fourth grade at 10 years old because of COVID and other problems and his learning disabilities that now he's going to go to middle school like he should because of these teachers
037and smaller class sizes and you want to stuff them back into an overcrowded building. No. Uh bus concerns. The district Marvin over there is telling everybody that most of these kids are going to be walking. There's only two ways to walk to Stonehurst from our neighborhood in under a mile. One is those supposed beautiful rail trails. They're nothing but shootings, stabbings, and fights and drugs. And two is to levitate to to uh Stonehurst from Penrook. They're the only options. State law says you have to me you have to measure by drivable routes. drivable routes. You cannot get to Stonehurst from our neighborhood in less than 1.2 to 1.5 miles, which is almost the exact same distance as Charles Kelly. Um, walking. Yeah, I covered that. Safety. We already have problems with fights. We already have
038two neighborhoods that cannot be busted together even though they go to school together because they fight on the bus. and your bus drivers do a horrible job at at stopping anything that goes along the bus. Now, you want to take kids that already have problems with certain neighborhoods and you want to move them in with a whole bunch more kids that we know fight the neighborhoods over on that side don't get along with the neighborhoods over on this side of the same side of the township on from one side of East Lands down to the other. Now, they're all going to go to school together. So, that creates more safety concerns. um the redistricting. If this was really just about, you know, cost and moving kids around to where it was beneficial, the entire district
039should be redistricting, including the two empty classrooms at Primise, including the SenCow kids back to their neighborhoods. All of the schools should be included in the redistricting and all the students shifted. or keep all the Charles Kelly kids together like you did the SenCow kids when you move them over to precious excuse me I mean Aronomy where they will stay and while our kids will go back to a falling apart building um new school it's the only way that solves the problem eight years he's been telling us new school where's it at 69th Street yeah not possible flooding figure something out work with the township build us a new school keep our kids at Charles Kelly until All right, we have we have reached the end of the public comment portion of this hearing. As
040I've indicated before, you will have an opportunity to submit written comments from now until August, sorry, April, April 29th, uh, 2025. Uh, no action in fact can be taken by the board until that point. uh and that any action that will be taken at that point will be taken at a publicly advertised meeting of the board. You will have ample notice of the same. With that, we have reached the end of the meeting. Uh so we will adjourn now. Thank you.