NYC Schools' Enrollment Shrank 10% Since 2018, New Data Shows

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's public schools saw their enrollment drop by nearly 11 percent since 2018, new data released Monday shows.

The city's school enrollment dip during the 2022-23 year will be 1.8 percent, far less than officials had anticipated, according to preliminary Department of Education data.

All told, New York City will remain the nation's largest school district with roughly 903,000 students, data shows. But the district's student population has shrank for the past six years, and is nearly 11 percent smaller than the 1 million-plus students seen in the 2018-19 school year, data shows.

Still, the reveal of the better-than-expected numbers coincided with Mayor Eric Adams and Chancellor David Banks announcing that schools won't lose money if their enrollment dipped. They said the city will use $200 million in federal stimulus funds to boost funding and cover any losses.

"This investment will boost our schools that face continued enrollment challenges caused by the pandemic," Banks said in a statement.

School funding is tied to enrollment, and city officials controversially cut budgets by $215 million this year based in part on expected declines in student numbers.

Angry parents and teachers protested, filed a lawsuit and prompted City Council members to symbolically reverse the cuts.

Comptroller Brad Lander argued over the summer that the city could tap into federal COVID relief funds to cover the losses — and Monday he praised the mayor and chancellor for doing just that.

But he noted that the mid-year budget adjustments could come too late for many schools that lost teachers and classes.

"We cannot afford to fuel the self-fulfilling prophesy of underfunding schools based on projected enrollment declines," he tweeted.

The city's schools have lost students every year since 2016, a trend officials tie to falling birth rates and the coronavirus pandemic.