Change in policy will provide equal opportunities to students with disabilities seeking admission to criteria-based schools
August 10, 2026- Under threat of litigation from a family represented by the Public Interest Law Center, the School District of Philadelphia has made a critical change to its “criteria-based school” application process for students with disabilities. This change removes a policy that, among other things, required some students with disabilities to pay a steep penalty for requesting a reasonable accommodation through a process known as Individualized Review.
“The school district’s policy put together two things that were illogically paired,” said the school district parent who sparked the policy change. “The painful either/or of the policy effectively ruined my child’s 8th grade year and has had far reaching impacts on their academic confidence, self-esteem, and social experience.”
The School District of Philadelphia offers criteria-based middle and high schools that require certain attendance, grades, and test scores for admission. Students can apply to up to five schools through a lottery if they meet all requirements. Stemming from a long-standing consent decree, students with disabilities who meet only two of the three criteria may request an Individualized Review, a process to determine if they could succeed at those schools with reasonable accommodations. If that review determines students can succeed, they become lottery eligible for those schools.
“But then came the double-bind for students with disabilities,” said Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, staff attorney at the Public Interest Law Center.
That bind was as follows: Many students with disabilities meet all three criteria for some criteria-based schools, but only two out of three criteria for others. For any of those students who wanted to participate in Individualized Review for lottery eligibility for a school for which they did not meet all three criteria, the district required them to waive their rights to enter the lottery for any other criteria-based school for which they already met the criteria without Individualized Review.
In other words, a student who already met all three criteria for Palumbo, but only met two of three criteria for Central, would have to disclaim his or her lottery eligibility for Palumbo, just to have an opportunity for the district to perform that Individualized Review for Central, regardless of how it turned out. Even if the Individual Review then determined that student was not eligible for Central, that same student was still deemed ineligible for Palumbo.
As a result, the policy effectively punished children for requesting accommodations they are legally entitled to receive, including the student at issue here.
“The policy made such little sense that I thought it was an oversight. But the district just doubled down,” the parent added. “It felt punitive.”
Seeking to end this policy, the Law Center, on behalf of this parent and a child punished by this double-bind, alerted the district that it intended to file a lawsuit alleging the policy violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
The school district asked to enter settlement discussions, and soon after those discussions, it entered into an agreement to change the policy. Now, beginning in the 2026-27 school year, students who have a 504 Plan, an individualized education plan, or are identified as an English Learner may apply to criteria-based schools for which they meet the eligibility criteria. Those students may also seek an Individualized Review for schools for which they do not meet one of the eligibility criteria. And there is no punishment for doing so.
“I am beyond relieved that this awful policy has been ended,” said the parent of the change. “The district should want to have engaged and talented students with disabilities in our top schools, not push them out.”
“One tenet of the right to a free, appropriate public education is knocking down barriers that artificially stop children with disabilities from getting to be like any other kid,” said Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg .“One small barrier is down.”
While precise numbers are not known, the Law Center believes the change will impact hundreds of students in the upcoming years.
The policy change is as follows:
“For the 2026-2027 school year, the District will modify its application protocol for students who, at the time of application, (i) have a 504 Plan, an IEP, or are identified as an English Learner (EL) (the “Subject Students”). Subject students may apply to criteria-based schools for which they meet the then applicable eligibility criteria and to additionally seek an individualized review for schools for which they do not meet one of the then applicable eligibility criteria. Subject Students must meet all other then existing eligibility requirements to receive an individualized review. An individualized review is an appeal process and does not guarantee eligibility or admission to a criteria-based school.
“This Agreement does not prevent the District from modifying its school selection process, including individualized reviews, or eligibility criteria, nor does it require the District to maintain its current processes for any set period of time. However, to the extent the District’s school selection process continues to allow students to apply to more than one school, the District will provide a mechanism for the Subject Students to apply to a school where they meet the then applicable criteria and to additionally seek review of their eligibility where they do not.”
