Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters

July 2014

UnMet need for seats in Proposed 2015-2019 capital plan

Including class size and overcrowding data for community school district 16

School Utilization Rates at critical levels• Citywide, schools have become more overcrowded over last six years. More than 480,000

students citywide are in extremely overcrowded buildings.

• Elementary schools avg. building utilization “target” rates at 97.4%; median at 102%. High schools are not far behind at 95.2%.

• High ES rates in all boroughs, including D10 and D11 in the Bronx 108% and 105.6%, respectively.

• In Queens, D24 (120.6%), D25 (109.7%), D26 (110%), D27 (106.1%), and D30 (107.3%) all extremely overcrowded.

• At the MS level, D20 in Brooklyn, D24, and D25 in Queens have building utilization rates over 95%.

• Queens high school buildings have avg. utilization rate of 110.7% and Staten Island high school buildings 103.2%.

Data source: Blue Book target utilization rates 2012-2013

Average Utilization Rates City-Wide 2012-2013

*Calculated by dividing building enrollment by the target capacity

Source: 2012-2013 DOE Blue Book

Proposed capital plan vs. needs for seats• Proposed capital plan has (at most) 38,754 seats – and this if

Cuomo’s “Smart School” bond act is approved. (806 more seats funded only for design)

• Plan admits real need of 49,245 (though doesn’t explain how this figure was derived).

• DOE’s consultants project enrollment increases of 60,000-70,000 students by 2021

• At least 30,000 seats needed to alleviate current overcrowding for just those districts that average above 100%.

• Conclusion: real need for seats at least 100,000.

Proposed capital plan vs. needs for seats part II• These figures do not capture overcrowding at neighborhood level,

including schools with K waiting lists, or need to expand pre-K, reduce class size, restore cluster rooms, or provide space for charters as required in new state law.

• Does not capture need to replace trailers with capacity of more than 10,890 seats.

• Though DOE counts only 7,158 students attending class in TCUs, actual number is far higher & likely over 10,000.

• Also, DOE utilization figures underestimate actual overcrowding according to most experts and Chancellor, who has appointed a “Blue Book” taskforce to improve them.

• Revised utilization formula should be aligned to smaller classes, dedicated rooms for art, music, special education services, and more.

Class sizes have increased for six years in a row • Despite provisions in 2007 state law requiring NYC reduce class sizes, classes in K-3 in

2013-2014 largest since 1998; in grades 4-8 largest since 2002.

• K-3 average class size was 24.9 (Gen Ed, inclusion & gifted classes) compared to 20.9 in 2007, increase of 19%.

• In grades 4-8, the average class size was 26.8, compared to 25.1 in 2007 –increase of 6.8%.

• HS “core” academic classes, class size average 26.7, up slightly since 2007.  (Yet DOE’s measure of HS class sizes is inaccurate and their methodology changes, so estimates cannot be relied upon.)

• Averages do NOT tell the whole story – as more than 330,000 students were in classes of 30 or more in 2013-2014.

• There were 40,268 kids in K-3 in classes of 30 or more in 2013-2014 – an increase of nearly 14% compared to the year before. 

• The number of teachers decreased by over 5000 between 2007-2010, according to the Mayor’s Management Report, despite rising enrollment.

General ed, CTT and gifted: data from IBO 1998-2005; DOE 2006-2013

Gened, CTT and gifted: data from IBO 1998-2005; DOE 2006-2013

Class sizes in CSD 16 have increased in grades K-3 by 13.4% since 2006 and are now above Contracts for Excellence

goals

Data sources: DOE Class Size Reports 2006-2013, 2007 DOE Contracts for Excellence Approved Plan

CSD 16’s class sizes in grades 4-8 have increased by 1.8% since 2007 and are slightly below Contracts for Excellence goals

Data sources: DOE Class Size Reports 2006-2013, 2007 DOE Contracts for Excellence Approved Plan

Class sizes city-wide have increased in core HS classes as well, by 2.3% since 2007, though the DOE data is

unreliable*

*DOE’s class size data is unreliable & their methodology for calculating HS averages have changed year to year

Data sources: DOE Class Size Reports 2006-2013, 2008 DOE Contracts for Excellence Approved Plan

CSD 16 Schools with large class sizes

• In grades K-3, there are seven schools in District 16 with at least one grade with an average class size of 25 or more, according to DOE’s November 2013 report.

• PS 262 El Hajj Malik El Shabazz and Young Scholars’ Academy for Discovery and Exploration have at least three grade levels in K-3 with 25 or more students.

• In grades 4-8, 4 schools have at least one grade level with an average class size of 30 or more.

• MS 035 Stephen Decatur has at least three grade levels with 30 or more students at the 4-8 level.

Examples of schools in CSD 16 with large class sizes, K-3

At least 30,000 seats currently needed just in districts averaging over 100%

*These figures are the difference between capacity & enrollment in the organizational target # in 2012-2013 Blue Book

Source: 2012-2013 DOE “Blue Book”

Average Utilization Rates in CSD 16 compared to City-Wide

*Calculated by dividing building enrollment by the target capacity

Source: 2012-2013 DOE Blue Book

Over-utilization in ES and MS buildings in CSD 16 and Brooklyn HS• One elementary school building, PS 28 (112%) in CSD 16

is over-utilized. 29 seats are needed for this buildings to reach 100% utilization.

• In Brooklyn, 21 high school buildings are at or over 100% building utilization. The seat need for these buildings is over 9,000.

• Please note that the seat need here is higher because it takes into account all buildings that are over-utilized (100% or more) rather than the need averaged across the district.

21 Brooklyn HS buildings above 100% Utilization

*9,207 seats needed in Brooklyn to reduce building utilization to 100%

New Seats in Capital Plan and DOE Enrollment Projections for CSD 16

Enrollment projections estimate 358 to 1,183 new K-8 students in D16 by 2021 but capital plan adds ZERO seats .

0

City-wide Enrollment Projections K-8 vs. New Seats in Capital Plan *Statistical Forecasting does not include

D75 students; K-8 Seats in Capital Plan are categorized as Small PS and PS/IS and includes 4,900 seats for class size reduction if Bond issue passes.

Source for Housing Starts: NYSCA Projected New Housing Starts 2012-2021, http://www.nycsca.org/Community/CapitalPlanManagementReportsData/Housing/2012-21HousingWebChart.pdf; Projected public school ratio, https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Education/Projected-Public-School-Ratio/n7ta-pz8k

City-wide Enrollment Projections HS vs. New Seats in Capital Plan *Statistical Forecasting does not include D75

students; HS Seats in Capital Plan are categorized as IS/HS and does not include seats for class size reduction

Source for Housing Starts: NYSCA Projected New Housing Starts 2012-2021, http://www.nycsca.org/Community/CapitalPlanManagementReportsData/Housing/2012-21HousingWebChart.pdf; Projected public school ratio, https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Education/Projected-Public-School-Ratio/n7ta-pz8k

Also Kindergarten Waitlists in many neighborhoods

2014 Kindergarten Wait Lists in CSD 16

• According to DOE, the wait list for zoned Kindergarten spots in 2014 is smaller citywide than in 2013, with 1,242 zoned students on wait lists as of April 21, 2014.

• 19 of 32 school districts currently have at least one school with a waiting list.

• 63 schools have zoned wait lists: 20 in Brooklyn, 17 in Queens, 11 in Manhattan, 11 in The Bronx, and 4 in Staten Island.

• DOE less transparent than ever: the number of zoned students for particular schools if less than 10 is not revealed – and methodology for creating wait lists unexplained.

• Over 7,000 families got none of their choices but unclear how many were put on wait list for their zoned school.

• There were no schools in District 16 with zoned students on wait lists for Kindergarten.

Seats Need for CSD 16 and Brooklyn High Schools• The FY 2015-2019 Capital Plan that DOE will move forward with plans to add no seats

in District 16.

• 29 elementary school seats are needed to reduce building utilization rates at PS 28 in District 16.

• Enrollment projections at the K-8 level suggest 350 to 1,200 new students by 2021.

• A real seat need of at least 380 and as many as 1,200 seats will go unmet in District 16 with this capital plan.

• At the high school level, while the average building utilization rate is at 88.6% for Brooklyn, 21 high school buildings remain over-utilized with 9,200 seats needed for the schools to reach 100% building utilization.

• No seats are expected to be added to Brooklyn high schools in the current Capital Plan.

New charter provisions passed in state budget• Any charter co-located in a NYC school building cannot be evicted and has veto

powers before they leave the building – even if they are expanding and squeezing out NYC public school students. 

• This includes any charter co-location agreed to before 2014 – including the three

Success charter schools approved right before Bloomberg left office.

• Any new or charter school in NYC adding grade levels must be “provided access to facilities” w/in five months of asking for it.

• If they don’t like the space offered by the city, they can appeal to the Commissioner King, who is a former charter school director and has never ruled against a charter school.

• . 

• NO FISCAL IMPACT statement or analysis accompanying this bill.

• In addition, the state will provide all charter schools with per-pupil funding increases, amounting to $500 over the next 3 years and provide them funding for pre-K.

Charter space provisions ONLY apply to NYC• Upstate legislators fought off making charters eligible for state facilities funds

– which would have been better for NYC.

• Yet legislators did not block these onerous provisions for NYC , where we have the most expensive real estate & the most overcrowded schools in the state.

• If the DOE doesn’t offer charter schools free space, the city  must pay for a school’s rent in private space or give them an extra 20 percent over their operating aid every year going forward.

• After the city spends $40 million per year on charter rent, the state will begin chipping in 60% of additional cost.

How many charters will there be entitled to free space?• We have 183 charters in NYC, 119 in co-located space.

• 22 new charters are approved to open next year or the year after, all entitled to free space.

• 52 additional charter schools left to approve until we reach the cap raised in 2010 – with legislative approval – all entitled to free space.

• Any new or existing co-located charter can also be authorized to expand grade levels through HS and will be entitled to free space.

• DOE will be paying $5.4 M in annual rent for four years for 3 Success Academy schools that only have 484 students next year – at a cost of $11,000 per student.

• This doesn’t count the unknown renovation costs in these 3 schools, also paid for by the city.

Blue book data & Utilization formula inaccurate & underestimates actual level of overcrowding

• Class sizes in grades 4-12 larger than current averages & far above goals in city’s C4E plan & will likely force class sizes upwards

• Doesn’t require full complement of cluster rooms or special needs students to have dedicated spaces for their mandated services

• Doesn’t properly account for students now housed in trailers in elementary and middle schools.

• Doesn’t account for co-locations which subtract about 10% of total space and eat up classrooms with replicated administrative & cluster rooms. Small schools use space less efficiently

• Instructional footprint shrank full size classroom only 500 sq. feet min., risking building code/safety violations at many schools as 20-35 sq feet per student required.

• Special ed classrooms defined as only 240-499 sq ft, thought State Ed guidelines call for 75 sq ft per child with special needs; classrooms this small would allow only 3- 7 students.

Comparison of class sizes in Blue book compared to current averages & Contract for excellence goals

Grade levelsUFT Contract

class size limits

Target class sizes in "blue

book"

Current average class sizes

C4E class Size goals

How many sq ft per student required in classrooms

according to NYC building code

Kindergarten 25 20 23 19.9 35

1st-3rd 32 20 25.5 19.9 20

4th-5th 32 28 26 22.9 20

6th-8th 30 (Title I)

33 (non-Title I)28 27.4 22.9 20

HS (core classes)

34 30 26.7* 24.5 20

*DOE reported HS class sizes unreliable

Some Recommendations• 38,000 seats in capital plan is too low, esp. given existing overcrowding,

projected enrollment, preK expansion, class size reduction, new mandates to provide charter schools with space

• Also very low as compared to Mayor’s plan to create or preserve 200,000 affordable housing units.

• Council should expand the seats in five year capital plan.

• Commission an independent analysis by City Comptroller, IBO or other agency.

• Adopt reforms to planning process so that schools are built along with housing in future through mandatory inclusionary zoning, impact fees etc.

• Over half of all states and 60% of large cities have impact fees, requiring developers to pay for costs of infrastructure improvements, including schools.