The Department of Education has released enrollment numbers totaling 938,000 students, down from about 960,000 students enrolled last year, a decline in City public schools, not including charter schools, of almost 2 percent.
The City Council Education Committee held an oversight hearing on October 27 and pressed DOE to provide current numbers on student enrollment. Enrollment has dropped by between a half and two percent every year since 2016 from 1.1 million students.
The 2021-22 school year is the first year since the pandemic began with classrooms fully reopened and no remote option. Enrollment loss was 4.7 percent for the 2020-2021 school year and average daily school attendance citywide is also down to 89 percent, below the pre-pandemic five-year average daily attendance rate of 91.6 percent.
“As the nation’s largest school district we’ve been impacted by the nationwide enrollment fluctuation that impacted schools across the country and this data shows enrollment is stabilizing as we continue our City’s incredible recovery,” said DOE spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon in a statement.
The issue of class size was also addressed by the Education Committee through legislation that would increase the square footage required per student in a classroom. The bill would mandate a minimum of 35 feet per student up from the current ratio of 20 feet per student; effectively limiting classrooms to a range of 14 to 21 students.
Currently, high school classes are capped at 34 students, middle school classes at 30 students and first through sixth grade classes at 32 students. If passed the bill (Intro 2374-2021) would be phased in over three years starting in 2022.
“Students who are in smaller classes do better in every way that can be measured,” said Leonie Hamison, executive director of Class Size Matters.
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