Space Overutilization in New York City Public Schools: Report of the 2016
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Space Overutilization In New York City Public Schools: Report on the 2016-2017 School Year May 9, 2018 Space Management Division of Operations TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview of Space Overutilization 1 • Snapshot of School Overutilization in the 2016-2017 School Year (SY) • School Utilization Reductions since the 2015-2016 Report • Strategies Implemented for the 2016-2017 School Year Current Space Standards 7 Policy Changes and Competing Initiatives 7 Looking Ahead 8 Conclusion 8 Appendices I. Overutilized Schools (SY 2016-2017) II. Overutilized Buildings (SY 2016-2017) III. Top 20 Overutilized Schools (SY 2016-2017) IV. Schools with Utilization Decreases (SY 2016-2017) V. Descriptions of Strategies to Relieve Overutilization VI. New Building Construction (SY 2016-2017) VII. Capital Task Force (CTF) Projects Generating Capacity (SY 2016-2017 and SY 2017- 2018) VIII. Rezoning Proposals for Implementation in SY 2011-2012 to SY 2018-2019 IX. List of High Schools on Split Session X. Approved Proposals to Repurpose Seats for Implementation in SY 2016-2017 and SY 2017-2018 XI. Key Groups Overview of Space Overutilization School space and overutilization continues to be a priority of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE). Over the last five years (2012-2013 to 2016-2017), while total student enrollment has grown by more than 45,000 students, enrollment in NYCDOE buildings has remained stable and overall seat capacity has increased. Although citywide total building capacity of 1,088,779 is greater than total enrollment of 1,034,174 for a total of 54,605 excess seats (see Figure 1), geographic misalignment between building locations and student residences, as well as variations in school quality, lead to highly variable rates of school utilization. As a result, some schools are significantly underutilized, while others remain overutilized. This report provides an update on the status of school overutilization and the strategies the NYCDOE has taken and will continue to take to alleviate overcrowding conditions in schools. Figure 1: Enrollment and Capacity in NYCDOE Buildings, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 1,100,000 1,090,000 1,080,000 1,070,000 1,060,000 1,050,000 1,040,000 1,030,000 1,020,000 1,010,000 1,000,000 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 Enrollment Capacity Snapshot of School Overutilization in the 2016-2017 School Year In the 2016-2017 school year, there were 720 were overutilized schools1 (out of 1,749 schools in NYCDOE buildings, 41%) and 632 overutilized buildings2, where enrollment exceeded target capacity per the 2016- 2017 Enrollment, Capacity, Utilization Report (the “Blue Book”). See Appendix I for the citywide list of overutilized schools and Appendix II for the citywide list of overutilized buildings. Utilization rates varied across all Community School Districts (“Districts”), ranging from as low as 52% in District 16 to as high as 126% in District 20, both in Brooklyn. Queens had the highest overall utilization rate and number of overutilized schools. See Figures 2 and 3 for district utilization rates and locations of overutilized schools. 1 School refers to each individual school organization within a building. School organizations may include District 75 and District 79 programs. 2 Building refers to the physical building, which may house multiple organizations. 1 Figure 2: Total Enrollment, Capacity and Utilization by District Count of Count of Borough/ Target Utilization Enrollment Overutilized Overutilized District Capacity Rate (%) Buildings Schools 1 13,116 16,585 79% 3 8 2 66,110 72,357 91% 33 46 3 24,462 28,670 85% 9 13 4 16,732 18,910 88% 9 14 5 16,589 20,111 82% 7 11 6 24,028 26,698 90% 17 17 Manhattan 161,037 183,331 88% 78 109 7 24,252 27,909 87% 7 16 8 31,760 35,466 90% 17 24 9 36,170 38,995 93% 26 32 10 56,337 54,722 103% 49 46 11 40,875 40,934 100% 33 31 12 26,969 29,766 91% 13 19 Bronx 216,363 227,792 95% 145 168 13 25,312 29,617 85% 8 12 14 22,476 28,749 78% 8 11 15 33,444 32,407 103% 27 28 16 9,106 17,487 52% 1 5 17 26,211 36,260 72% 7 13 18 17,812 26,192 68% 3 2 19 25,592 33,379 77% 9 11 20 49,734 39,344 126% 37 37 21 38,060 37,725 101% 24 28 22 35,391 33,046 107% 24 23 23 13,313 18,288 73% 4 5 32 13,354 20,741 64% 3 3 Brooklyn 309,805 353,235 88% 155 178 24 59,016 51,795 114% 44 45 25 36,907 30,405 121% 28 34 26 34,551 28,618 121% 27 27 27 45,127 44,629 101% 37 40 28 41,945 38,578 109% 33 33 29 26,480 29,451 90% 15 15 30 40,843 39,884 102% 27 30 Queens 284,869 263,360 108% 211 224 31 62,100 61,061 102% 43 41 Staten Island 62,100 61,061 102% 43 41 2016-2017 1,034,174 1,088,779 95% 632 720 Citywide 2015-2016 1,036,299 1,082,364 96% 646 748 Citywide 2 Figure 3: Community School District Utilization and Overutilized Schools 3 Overutilization is spread across all school types, but is primarily concentrated in elementary schools as shown in Figure 4; 70% of overutilized schools are elementary, K-8, or Early Childhood schools. Figure 4: Overutilized Schools by School Type # of Overutilized % of Overutilized School Type Schools Schools Elementary 397 55% High School 109 15% K-8 98 14% Middle School 58 8% Secondary School 36 5% K-12 13 2% Early Childhood (K-2) 8 1% Ungraded 1 0.1% Total 720 100% It should be noted that 73 of the 720 schools (10%) that appear over-utilized were not yet at full scale in 2016-2017 and an additional 33 (5%) were small schools with enrollment below 250. For phasing-in and small schools, the Blue Book capacity formula, which makes deductions for cluster rooms, guidance rooms, and teacher rooms, may understate total capacity and can result in a utilization rate greater than 100%. Despite a high utilization rate, many of these schools did not experience overcrowding conditions, such as large class sizes or zoned waitlists. For example, Fort Hill Collaborative Elementary School (R010) in District 31 is a small elementary school that is still in process of phasing in. During 2016-2017, the school served two sections per grade of kindergarten through second grade for a total of 147 students in six general education sections and one special education class. These sections were served in nine full-size instructional classrooms with average class sizes of 25 for kindergarten and 22 for first and second grade. These classrooms had a total capacity of 171 students. Due to the capacity deductions for cluster rooms, parent/teacher rooms, and guidance rooms that are applied to every elementary school in the Blue Book, an adjusted capacity of just 59 students is reported, which results in a 247% utilization rate. When Fort Hill Collaborative Elementary School is at scale, serving grades K-5 in 2019-2020, the projected capacity for the school is 230 with a utilization rate of 115%. Out of the 20 most highly overutilized schools with utilization rates ranging from 194% - 469%, 15 do not have the overcrowding conditions that would reflect such high utilization rates. See Appendix III for a list of the top 20 overutilized schools. The rates may be overstated for the following reasons: • Six were still in process of phasing in. • Five were small Early Childhood Centers (schools that serve grades K-1, K-2 or K-3). These schools do not have on-the-ground overcrowding conditions such as large class sizes or zoned waitlists, but lack sufficient rooms for cluster space or other resource rooms. • One was split-sited and served students in both a private space and NYCDOE space. The school may have ample space in their private site for additional cluster and resource rooms. Even so, 4 the full Blue Book capacity deductions were applied to the NYCDOE space, therefore NYCDOE capacity is likely understated. • Two schools were operating in Temporary Classroom Units (TCUs), which are not included in the total capacity figure. An addition to the main building is planned for 2018 to replace the TCU at one school. • One school operates in an open concept building, which allows for multiple classes per classroom. However, these rooms are categorized as four half-sized instructional rooms, which does not capture the full realistic capacity of the building. Of the remaining five schools, a 550 seat annex will be built to alleviate overcrowding at one school and another has been impacted by a 2017 rezoning plan that will shrink the number of students living in its zone. It is also important to note that the majority of overutilized schools (56%) are in single organization buildings, meaning that they are not co-located with any other organizations. School Utilization Reductions Since the 2015-2016 Report During the 2015-2016 school year, 748 schools were overutilized. The NYCDOE was able to reduce utilization below 100% in 88 of these schools (12%) and an additional 340 schools (45%) saw a decrease in utilization (See Appendix IV for the list of schools). The number of overutilized buildings and schools has been decreasing each year over the last three years, as illustrated in Figure 5. Figure 5: Overutilized Schools and Buildings, 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 Overutilized Schools and Buildings 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 780 757 760 748 740 720 720 700 680 660 650 646 640 632 620 600 580 560 Overutilized Schools Overutilized Buildings 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 The strategies employed to decrease utilization at 426 schools included the building of new capacity, re- siting schools from overutilized space to new and underutilized space, rezoning, facilities upgrades, and re-programming space to be used more efficiently.