• The Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program was created pursuant to Act 85 of 2012 (72 P.S. § 1701-G.1, et seq) and amended by Act 86 of 2016 (24 P.S. § 2001-B, et seq). This program enables eligible students, residing within the boundaries of low-achieving schools, to apply for a scholarship to attend a participating public or nonpublic school. 

     

    Low-achieving schools are defined as public elementary and secondary schools (excluding brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools, and area vocational-technical schools) within the Commonwealth that ranked in the lowest 15 percent of its designation (elementary or secondary) for the school year, based on the combined Mathematics/Algebra I and Reading/Literature scores from the most recent annual assessments (PASA, PSSA, and/or Keystone) administered.

     

    The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) posts the list of low-achieving schools annually so that eligible students can apply for scholarships for the upcoming school year. Students who reside in an attendance zone of a school that was on a previous list of low performing schools but is not on the 2023-2024 school year list may also apply to a scholarship organization to continue receiving a scholarship.

     

    PDE is required to officially notify you that the Upper Darby SD has been identified as having multiple schools designated as low-achieving based upon the 2023-24 SY assessments.  The following are the school codes and school names in your district designated as low-achieving:

     

    BEVERLY HILLS MS 1970

    BYWOOD EL SCH 1960

    CHARLES KELLY EL SCH 7943

    STONEHURST HILLS EL SCH 1968

    UPPER DARBY SHS 1972

    DREXEL HILL MS 1971

    WESTBROOK PARK ES 1969

     

    Pursuant to 24 P.S. § 2010-B(C), the district must post on its publicly accessible internet website information about this program within 15 days of receipt of this letter.  PDE has compiled and attached the following information in an overview document, which the district must place on its website:

     

    1. The overview of the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program includes a description of the program Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (pa.gov): all resources listed below can be found using this link:
      1. Instructions to apply for an Opportunity Scholarship
      2. Parental responsibilities regarding enrolling their child in a participating public or nonpublic school
      3. Sample parent letter

     

    1. A list of schools in the district that have been designated as low-achieving schools (listed above).