NYC has 219 public schools with under 200 students, and the chancellor wants a plan

City data puts the number of New York City public schools enrolling fewer than 200 students at 219, and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels has made that growing list one of his top priorities this year.

Last month, Samuels put the number of children in what he called “small or under-enrolled” schools at about 30,000. He arrived in the job with a reputation for managing the delicate politics of school mergers. Speaking to thousands of new teachers at an orientation this month, he said, “We have many schools that are too small,” adding that many of them don’t have the resources other programs do.

Where NYC’s small schools are concentrated

Tiny schools keep adding up, and the South Bronx, the upper part of Manhattan and the northeastern corner of Brooklyn hold the largest share. Those neighborhoods could be where the next battles over closing or combining schools play out. Bedford-Stuyvesant’s District 16 alone accounts for about a dozen.

P.S. 309 in Bed-Stuy is one example, with 196 children from 3-K to fifth grade. City data shows just 27 students made up its whole second grade last year, taught in a single class. Families describe the school as “small but mighty” and highlight its art, science, dance, cheerleading and meditation. Neighborhoods tend to love schools like this, yet keeping them running is costly and difficult. No plan exists to close P.S. 309 or fold it into another school, and parents say they haven’t noticed resources being spread thin.

Working groups on enrollment and class size

This summer, Samuels formed working groups in five districts, including Bed-Stuy’s, to tackle enrollment, class size and integration as linked problems. His goal is to eventually have such a group in each of the city’s 32 districts.

A decade ago the system served more than 1 million students. Today it has around 885,000. Experts point to falling birth rates, families leaving New York and some parents picking alternatives like charter schools. Ana Champeny, who oversees research as a vice president at the Citizens Budget Commission, doesn’t expect a reversal: “This is not a trend that’s likely to change.”

Enrollment isn’t falling evenly. Popular schools are packed, while small ones frequently have trouble covering arts classes, extracurriculars and programs after the school day ends. With a new law now limiting how many students can sit in a class, the budget watchdog group argues the city should turn unused room in half-empty school buildings to new purposes before it pays for new construction.