New York City will need to build dozens of new schools as class sizes shrink, schools chancellor David Banks says
NEW YORK -- While New York City may have lost tens of thousands of students during the pandemic, schools chancellor David Banks says new class size requirements are going to force the city to build dozens of new schools.
He spoke exclusively to CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer.
When it comes to city public schools, parents have been voting with their feet, pulling more than 100,000 student out of public school in favor of charter, private schools and parochial schools.
Despite the drop, Banks said during an interview on CBS2's Sunday morning talk show "The Point," he's going to have to embark on a new building program.
"There will be dozens of new schools. I don't know the exact number of new schools, but it will be significant, and that's not a bad thing in that we want to ensure that our kids have a great school experience. We don't want kids to be in school where there's 150% overcrowding," he said.
One reason for the expansion program is a new state law that takes effect next year that will require the city to shrink class sizes.
The city has to reduce class size in at least 20% of its schools each year for the next five years. Kindergarten through third grade will be capped at 20 students, grades 4-8 at 23 students.
"I think in the short term, it's not going to be particularly difficult over the next couple of years. We'll be able to do that and I think move that pretty efficiently. The challenge comes two years, three years down the line. I think that's when it's going to be more challenging for us. We've got more classes that we're going to have to ensure that they're smaller and the amount of dollars that we're going to have to spend will be much more significant," Banks said.
In addition to more school facilities, there will be the need to hire more teachers.
"How big is the financial challenge?" Kramer asked.
"It's to the tune of millions of dollars," Banks said.
The plan is to ask the state for the cash.
The need for more classroom space is being exacerbated by the children of asylum seekers who are coming into the system. The chancellor says the city has already accepted 10,000 students and the numbers are expected to grow.