Upper Darby holds hearing on proposed closure of Charles Kelley Elementary School

The Upper Darby School District held a public hearing Jan. 28, 2025, to gather public comment on a proposal to close Charles Kelley Elementary School in Drexel Hill and reassign its students, Kyle Berman, the district’s general solicitor, said at the start of the meeting.

District administrators presented a five-part rationale for “sunsetting” Charles Kelley, saying the building is leased (the lease expires June 30, 2025), the district does not own the property and therefore has limited ability to improve the space, the school was opened in 2007 to ease overcrowding, closure would reassign students to district-owned schools that may be closer to their homes, and there are ongoing uncertainties about public school funding. "The centerpiece of the hearing will be the presentation by the administration to give information about the proposal and to hear from community members," Berman said.

The hearing is part of a statutorily required process under the Pennsylvania Public School Code (identified in the hearing as “school code section 7 7 80 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 as amended”), Berman said; the board will not make a decision at the hearing. The district set a public comment period through April 29, 2025, and said it could take potential board action at a publicly advertised meeting that day. Written comments submitted after the hearing and before April 29 will be read and considered by the board, Berman said.

At the presentation…