Every 6th Upper Manhattan Public School Student Is Homeless: Report

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — One in every six students in the Washington Heights and Inwood public school district is homeless, according to a new report from Advocates for Children of New York.

The report found the number of students without a stable home during the past school year increased by 3 percent to 104,000 children, despite the fact that total enrollment declined.

Upper Manhattan was singled out multiple times in the report, along with areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn, as especially concentrated areas throughout the five boroughs where students dealt with temporary housing and homelessness.

Upper Manhattan's School District 6's ratio of one in every six students considered to be homeless was the second highest of the 32 New York City school districts. However, there were five other school districts with the same one to six ratio, according to the report.

The report from Advocates for Children of New York considers a student to be homeless if they are living in a shelter, are doubled up living with friends or non-immediate family members, and those who live unsheltered in a car, park, or on the street.

“If these 100,000 children made up their own school district, it would be a district larger than 99.5% of all other districts nationwide,” Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children of New York, said in a news release. “While the City works to address the underlying issue of homelessness, we also must ensure that students who are homeless get to class every day and receive the targeted supports they need to succeed in school.”

Here is other information for the Washington Heights and Inwood school district, according to the report.

• Total enrollment: 25,456
• Minimum number of students living in doubled-up housing: 3,360
• Minimum number of students living in shelters: 490
• Minimum number of students living in hotels: 5
• Minimum number of unsheltered students: 129
• Number of students in temporary housing: 4,064

You can check out the report for yourself, here.