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New York City public-school enrollment has fallen by 187,000 students over 12 years, while 335 schools now have fewer than 250 students. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels are testing community-led planning in five districts, but have not set a citywide timeline or announced a broad consolidation plan.
New York City public-school enrollment has dropped by 187,000 students in 12 years, leaving 335 schools with fewer than 250 students and sharpening pressure on Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels to address a growing small-schools problem. Samuels has said he favors community-led proposals over a top-down systemwide consolidation plan, and the administration has started working groups in five districts.
The city’s K-12 public-school population is now about 790,000, according to figures cited by The 74. The decline reflects falling birth rates and families leaving the city, and enrollment is projected to fall by almost as much again over the next decade. A Chalkbeat analysis found the number of schools below 250 students rose from 42 to 335 over 25 years. Education Department leaders say schools below that size can struggle to provide a broad range of programs.
Samuels has said he does not want to impose a single, citywide plan to reduce the number of schools. Instead, he launched working groups in five districts to develop plans with local communities and has promised to expand the effort citywide. Officials have not provided a timeline. In recent weeks, superintendents have floated proposals to close at least two underenrolled schools: a Harlem high school and a South Bronx middle school, according to Chalkbeat reporting cited by The 74. Those proposals are not described as final decisions.
The Education Department says larger schools can offer more advanced classes and enrichment, including arts and sports, while arguing that consolidation must reflect each school community. The administration has not announced a systemwide closure or merger plan. The current approach leaves individual districts and communities with a significant role in determining whether schools are combined or closed.
The Cost of Sustaining Underfilled Schools
The enrollment decline matters both for students’ access to programs and for the city’s use of public education funds. The Education Department says larger enrollment can make it easier to offer advanced coursework, arts, sports and other enrichment. Supporters of mergers argue that combining schools could preserve staff and student relationships while making a wider set of opportunities available, rather than dispersing students across multiple campuses after a closure.
The budget implications are also substantial. Since 2010, the number of principals has increased 11% to 1,610, and assistant principals have increased 31% to 3,518, according to data the Independent Budget Office provided to Chalkbeat. Those changes occurred as enrollment fell, although the figures alone do not establish that small schools caused the staffing increases. The city has also spent almost $2 billion continuing a policy that protects school budgets when enrollment drops.
For families, decisions about mergers and closures can affect school identity, travel, staff and access to programs. The administration’s community-led approach may give neighborhoods more influence, but it also leaves open how quickly the city will act as enrollment continues to decline.
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How School Openings Became a Closure Backlog
The present challenge follows decades of school policy that made opening schools easier than closing them. Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened hundreds of schools in the early 2000s as part of a market-based reform effort intended to expand choice and allow weaker schools to be replaced. Princeton sociology professor Jennifer Jennings told The 74 that the city embraced market competition at the start of that process but did not follow through consistently on closing schools later.
Later administrations also made some consolidation decisions, but the pace and approach varied. Mayor Bill de Blasio closed or merged schools, treating closure of low-performing schools as a last resort; those efforts slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Adams administration largely left consolidation decisions to local superintendents while opening schools in an effort to respond to enrollment losses that began during the pandemic.
In 2020, the de Blasio administration introduced the “hold harmless” policy, which kept school budgets steady despite enrollment declines. Each mayor since then, including Mamdani, has continued it. The 25-year increase in schools below 250 students and the city’s continuing budget protections reflect a long-running mismatch between enrollment and the structure of the school system, rather than a problem that began with the current administration.
““The data shows that schools with larger enrollment can offer more advanced coursework, more enrichment like arts and sports, and more opportunities our students deserve.””
— Nicole Brownstein, Education Department spokesperson
How Far Consolidation Will Go
It remains unclear whether the Mamdani administration will expand its five-district working groups citywide, when it will do so, or what decisions those groups will be asked to make. The city has not released a timeline for the process or a comprehensive plan for reducing the number of schools.
The Harlem and South Bronx proposals have been floated by superintendents, according to Chalkbeat reporting cited by The 74, but the available information does not establish that either closure has been approved. It is also not yet clear how many schools the administration may consider for merger or closure, what criteria it will use, or how families and educators will be involved in any final decisions.
Supporters say mergers can improve program access and, when schools with different student populations are combined, promote integration. Those are arguments for consolidation, not guaranteed results. Samuels has cited one merger he oversaw as a positive example, but its outcomes do not establish what would happen in other communities.
District Groups Face the Next Decisions
The next known step is the work of the five district groups already formed, alongside Samuels’ stated commitment to extend community-led planning citywide. The administration has not said when the expansion will happen or when districts might produce recommendations.
Families and educators will be watching for details on how the groups gather input, what enrollment and program measures guide their work, and whether proposed changes take the form of mergers, closures or another response. Any formal decision on a school would clarify whether the proposals now being discussed in Harlem and the South Bronx advance. Until the city sets a timeline and publishes its criteria, the scale and pace of consolidation remain unsettled.
Key Questions
How many students attend New York City public schools?
The K-12 public-school population is about 790,000, down 187,000 over the previous 12 years, according to figures cited by The 74.
How many schools have fewer than 250 students?
A Chalkbeat analysis found 335 schools below that enrollment level, compared with 42 about 25 years earlier. Education Department leaders say schools below 250 students can have difficulty offering a broad education.
Has the Mamdani administration announced a citywide school-closure plan?
No. Chancellor Kamar Samuels has said he prefers community-led proposals to a top-down systemwide plan. Working groups are active in five districts, and the city has not announced a timeline for expanding them.
Are schools in Harlem and the South Bronx set to close?
Not based on the information currently reported. Superintendents have floated proposals involving a Harlem high school and a South Bronx middle school, but the available account does not say that either closure has been approved.
Why do some educators support merging schools?
Supporters argue that mergers can combine students and staff while making more courses and enrichment available. They also say mergers can support integration in some cases, but those outcomes depend on how a merger is designed and are not assured.
Source: the74million.org
