Upper West Side school district gifted washers and dryers. Here's who stands to benefit most.
NEW YORK -- Several schools on the Upper West Side of Manhattan received a special delivery on Monday -- washers and dryers.
City and school officials in School District 3 say students' attendance has been negatively impacted due to a lack of access to clean clothes.
Nine schools in School District 3 received the appliances on Monday. The city said the machines were donated by an anonymous school in New Jersey and were transported, free of charge, by West Side Movers.
COVID, influx of migrant students exacerbated need
Educators at Louis D. Brandeis High School campus explained the need to CBS News New York.
"As a school, we are responsible for providing them with as much as we can," said Danielle Salzberg, principal of Frank McCourt High School, one of the four high schools on the campus. "One of the things we noticed when we came back from COVID was more and more kids seem to be wearing the same clothes every day."
As of February of this year, more than 1,700 students in School District 3 live in temporary housing, which can leave them without access to laundry services, according to city officials.
Washers and dryers may mean higher attendance
City Councilmember Gale Brewer said a survey conducted by her office discovered the addition of 581 students from migrant families since last May in School District 3, which has increased the need dramatically as many live in shelters.
"They're incredibly needed because of the migrant population, not to mention just those in shelters. So the reason we did the survey was to find out which schools had washers and dryers and which did not," Brewer said.
"Those students who don't have accessibility to wash their clothes or their parents can't afford to, they do have lower attendance because they miss school because they don't have clothes," guidance counselor Leo Blackman said.
School leaders say the machines mean the lack of clean clothes will no longer prevent students from accessing education.
"By providing washers and dryers, it'll give them a sense of school pride and will help to turn the needle up where attendance is concerned," said Kevin Bourne, business manager for the Urban Assembly of Green Careers.