These NYC School Districts Are Among The State's Safest

NEW YORK, NY — On top of renewed debate about gun control, last week's school shooting in Parkland, Florida has sparked discussions about school safety. It turns out 11 of New York State's safest school districts are in New York City, according to Niche.com's rankings.

The education website used federal Department of Education data and student and parent surveys to rank nearly 700 New York school districts according to the number of expulsions, suspensions, arrests and other factors. The surveys alone account for 50 percent of each district's ranking.

Staten Island's city-run schools are the safest in the city, Niche found — District 31, which encompasses the entire borough, ranks fourth in the state. The Orchard Park Central School District in upstate Erie County is No. 1.

Brooklyn has four districts in Niche's top 50, mostly on the borough's southern and eastern outskirts. Queens has three, Manhattan has two and the Bronx and Staten Island have one apiece.

A fatal stabbing at a Bronx high school last fall sparked debate in the city over whether more schools should have metal detectors. But the Niche rankings show little correlation between the presence of metal detectors and safety.

Staten Island has the city's safest district despite the fact that none of its students go through metal detectors each morning, according to a 2015 review by WNYC. Conversely, 62 percent of students in the Bronx walk through metal detectors but its sole district in Niche's top 50 is at No. 45.

Some 42 percent of Brooklyn students go through metal detectors, WNYC reported. The borough's top-50 districts rank from No. 11 to No. 49 on Niche's list.

Here's a full rundown of the New York City districts that are among the 50 safest in the state.

• No. 4 — District 31 in Staten Island
• No. 6 — District 24 in Queens (Corona, Elmhurst, Middle Village and Ridgewood)
• No. 11 — District 20 in Brooklyn (Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Borough Park)
• No. 19 — District 28 in Queens (Jamaica, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Rego Park)
• No. 21 — District 21 in Brooklyn (Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Gravesend)
• No. 23 — District 30 in Queens (Astoria, Long Island City, Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Woodside)
• No. 27 — District 22 in Brooklyn (Kensington, Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay and Bergen Beach)
• No. 28 — District 4 in Manhattan (East Harlem and Randalls Island)
• No. 45 — District 9 in the Bronx (Highbridge, Tremont, Morrisania and Morris Heights)
• No. 48 — District 6 in Manhattan (Washington Heights and Inwood)
• No. 49 — District 18 in Brooklyn (East Flatbush and Canarsie)

Check out Niche's full ranking of New York's safest school districts if your district isn't listed here.

(Lead image: Photo by Africa Studio/Shutterstock)