More than 100,000 city public school students were homeless at some point during the past school year, according to new state Education Department data.
For the sixth year in a row, more than 101,000 city kids lived in unstable housing, including 28,000 who spent time in shelters while 65,000 lived “doubled-up” with friends or relatives, according to state Education Department data compiled by Advocates for Children.
The number is down roughly 9% from the total during the 2019-2020 school year, but still 42% higher than the totals at the start of the decade.
Some of this year’s drop may trace back to an overall dip in enrollment in city public schools in 2020, and advocates warned it was also more difficult for school officials to confirm which kids were homeless.
The challenges of keeping up with school while experiencing homelessness are steep in a normal year, and were even more daunting last year with the pandemic and remote learning, families and advocates said.
Shelters often had nonexistent or spotty Wi-Fi or cell phone service, and kids sharing cramped rooms with multiple family members had a hard time concentrating on schoolwork.
Like in past years, homeless students were not spread evenly across the city.
More than one in five students in the South Bronx’s District 9 were homeless last year, compared with fewer than one in 20 students in Staten Island’s District 31.
Dozens of groups that advocate for homeless kids released a set of recommendations Monday urging incoming mayor Eric Adams to use federal stimulus funds to hire an additional 150 Education Department employees based in shelters who work directly with families on issues like arranging transportation and setting up school placements.
“With the right support, schools can transform the lives of students who are homeless,” said Advocates for Children Executive Director Kim Sweet. “The next administration should bring together city agencies and charge them with ensuring every student who is homeless gets the support needed to succeed in school.”
Michael Elsen-Rooney
Education Reporter
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Mike Elsen-Rooney covers education for the Daily News. He previously covered education for The Teacher Project at Columbia Journalism School and The Hechinger Report, and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Bloomberg, and the Boston Globe Magazine, among others. Mike’s a former high school Spanish teacher and afterschool program coordinator.