NYC Schools’ Student Homeless Rate Rising
More than half of the city’s homeless students were concentrated in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
The percentage of New York City Public Schools students who spent time in a homeless shelter last school year rose 15 percent from 2013-2014.
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The 2015-2016 student homeless data was released by the NYC Independent Budget Office, which emphasized that the student homeless population was concentrated in a small number of NYC schools, reports the New York Post.
Only 10.5 percent of all 1,475 NYC schools had a student homeless population above ten percent.
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In total, approximately 33,000 NYC students spent time in shelters last school year, up from just 24,531 students in the 2011-2012 school year.
The increase in homelessness has been especially severe in certain boroughs of the city. Bronx schools had 13,729 students who spent time in homeless shelters, a 44 percent increase from 2011-2012.
Brooklyn had 9,223 students who spent time in shelters, which represents an 18 percent increase since 2011-2012.
NYC Department of Education spokeswoman Toya Holness said the department has put $10 million toward addressing the problem of student homelessness.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio also recently launched an initiative to move homeless families into large new complexes closer to their communities.
The researchers say the new program may exacerbate the concentration of homeless students in certain schools.
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