Upper Darby SD lays out 2026–27 reconfiguration: Charles Kelley sunsetting, new middle school to shift feeder patterns

Upper Darby School District administrators on Monday presented a detailed plan to reconfigure elementary and middle‑school catchments for the 2026–27 school year, a process driven by the planned sunsetting of Charles Kelley Elementary School and the opening of Clifton Heights Middle School.

"Catchment zones ... are geographic areas that define which neighborhood school a student would attend based on their home address," said Dr. Tim Lambert, the district's manager of data and information, as he introduced maps showing how Charles Kelley’s three catchment sections will be reassigned.

Why it matters: The changes are intended to increase neighborhood‑school attendance, reduce busing where possible and rebalance enrollment after pandemic‑era declines. Administrators said declining birth rates and lower post‑pandemic kindergarten cohorts mean the district can redistribute seats to create more balanced class sizes and relieve overcrowding at Beverly Hills and Drexel Hill middle schools.

What was proposed: Under the plan, the Charles Kelley catchment area north of Westchester Pike (including Millbourne) would become part of Highland Park Elementary School, while two southern sections south of Marshall Road would be reassigned to Stonehurst Hills Elementary School. To maintain walkability and capacity, portions of Highland Park’s catchment shift to Hillcrest and part of Hillcrest moves to Aronamiq Elementary (transcript contains multiple spellings of this school name).

Administrators said kindergarten assignments will largely remain at the district’s kindergarten center, with only limited kindergarten‑catchment changes where both sending and receiving schools operate kindergarten.

Enrollment and staffing: Projected enrollment charts shown to the committee indicate elementary and middle‑school populations will be lower in 2026–27 than in recent pre‑pandemic years. Mister Marshall summarized class‑size ranges and said staffing adjustments will follow: total district FTE needs shift modestly overall, with a net UDA FTE increase of 16 positions offset in part by 24 FTE reallocated because of Charles Kelley’s closure. Miss Simone said related‑arts and student‑services roles will increase in some areas while core‑content FTEs modestly decrease.

Transportation and distance method: The administration will replace the prior walk‑zone polygon method with a state‑aligned parcel‑edge point‑to‑point distance calculation for determining eligibility. Mister Lee described the new method and color‑coded maps that show which parcels will walk and which will be bused under the recalculation. He reported that the district’s initial run shows 5 students would gain bus service and 364 would no longer be eligible for busing; administration said roughly 280 of those affected students are linked to the district high school. The district plans an online lookup tool for families and aims to publish the link in May 2026.

Board concerns and next steps: Committee members asked specifically about student safety for younger walkers crossing Lansdowne Avenue and using neighborhood bridges. Administrators agreed to coordinate with the township and the district security team to reassess crossing‑guard placement, consider walking‑bus programs at elementary schools, and provide route guidance via the parcel lookup tool.

Policy and timeline: Marshall said policy 206 (assignment/distance calculations) will be pulled back for further work and resubmitted for a first reading in October, with staff transfer requests governed by CUDA contract deadlines (transfer/retirement deadline 02/15/2026) and final assignment notifications planned for April–May 2026.

The presentation concluded with a communications plan that includes home‑and‑school meetings in September, faculty meetings this December, and walk‑throughs for students before Clifton Heights opens.