Mayor Adams, Chancellor Banks Announce That No School Will Lose Money Due to Mid-Year Enrollment Losses
Mid-year adjustment expected to result in approximately $200 million increase to school budgets. Schools that would receive additional funding through the mid-year adjustment because of an increase in student enrollment will receive a full increase in funding.
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David C. Banks today announced that New York City Public Schools will hold school budgets harmless for any lower than projected enrollment in this year’s mid-year adjustment process — ensuring that no school will lose money due to mid-year enrollment losses. The boost for schools will be supported by stimulus funding, will be utilized as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting schools as we continue to recover from the pandemic and continue our focus on providing the strongest support we can to all our students.
“The decision to hold school budgets harmless is about prioritizing the needs of the nearly 1 million children served by New York City public schools every day,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “We know that our entire school community was and still remains deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But under our administration, we are committed to ensuring that every school has the resources needed to provide the highest quality education for students to thrive. I applaud Chancellor Banks for his endless dedication to creating a school system where every child has the opportunity to achieve greatness.”
“As we recover from the disruptions of the pandemic, we will ensure every student has the resources they need to thrive,” said Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. “This investment will boost our schools that face continued enrollment challenges caused by the pandemic. Our focus is always on providing our children with the resources they need to succeed academically, emotionally, and physically. I am so thankful to Mayor Adams for his support for the use of stimulus funds that allowed us to make this investment and the continuing partnership of Education Chair Joseph in supporting our schools.”
“Today’s announcement is a positive step forward for our school communities and signifies a major agreement between the administration and my office since this was a major priority for my Education committee and was communicated to the administration,” said City Council Education Chair Rita Joseph. “Holding school budgets harmless for any enrollment loss that occurs in this year’s mid-year adjustment process means that students at under-enrolled schools will get to experience small class sizes and robust programming despite having fewer peers than expected. COVID-19 was a massive disruption to the New York City Public Schools and students alike. It’s hard to overstate how big of a win this is for New York City’s young people. I thank Mayor Adams and Chancellor Banks for their partnership on this critical issue as we work to make sure our city is one where every young person can thrive.”
In addition to today’s announcement, which is expected to result in an approximately $200 million increase to school budgets, we have also provided almost $12 million to support our newest students from asylum-seeking families, over $50 million in hardship supports for schools, $100 million in additional flexibility on existing funding in this year’s budget, and, recently, the guarantee that early childhood education providers who experienced lower-than-expected enrollment will be paid at least 75% of the value of their FY22 contracts.
Through the normal mid-year process, some schools would receive more funding due to increased enrollment and need compared to projections, and some schools would lose dollars if their enrollment was lower than projections. Schools that would receive additional funding through the mid-year adjustment because of an increase in student enrollment compared to projections will still receive the full increase in funding based on enrollment. The mid-year adjustment process will begin later this month and continue through midwinter.
This is the third straight year for which stimulus dollars have been used to hold schools harmless for these changes mid-year. This has been especially important as the community recovers from the pandemic—the main purpose of stimulus funding. For next year, we are asking schools to plan for a return to the typical mid-year adjustment processes in which funding will be reduced if enrollment is lower than projected and increased if enrollment is higher than projected.