City schools bracing for budget realities of 120K enrollment drop-offBy Cayla Bamberger
March 21, 2022
The city’s Department of Education is determined to attract families to the public school system — but is bracing for the reality if it can’t.
Schools Chancellor David Banks addressed the City Council’s education committee Monday on the proposed education budget, which accounts for student enrollment predictions and trends. Previously during the pandemic, schools did not lose funding if enrollment dropped.
According to the department, 120,000 students and families have left city schools over the last five years.
“How many more will come back? We don’t know. So we have to hope for the best but plan for the worst,” Banks told the committee.
Much of the loss can be attributed to a decline in new enrollees, the Independent Budget Office found this month. That includes families in some of the city’s traditionally most sought-after school districts, encompassing neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Park Slope.
“For our schools to deliver on their original promise of serving as the engine of the American dream, we will need to do things very differently in ways that build trust one big step at a time,” said Banks.
To help get families back or new families enrolled, Banks said the system needs to connect students with the “real world” and “what matters to them,” and engage parents as partners.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/03/21/schools-preliminary-budget-reflects-student-enrollment-drop/
