(Bloomberg) -- New York City is continuing to bleed students in its public school system even as pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Enrollment in the largest school district in the US is down 1.8% in 2022 from a year ago, representing 16,000 students in 3K through 12th grade, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by the city’s Department of Education. 

The drop marks the continuation of a years-long trend that rapidly accelerated during Covid lockdowns and remote schooling. The exodus has begun to slow, though, and this year’s dip is the smallest decline since the onset of the pandemic. 

Public schools have lost nearly 100,000 pupils, or about 10% of enrollment since the 2019-2020 school year, the data show. The data includes the 7,000 kids that officials have said enrolled in public schools amid an influx of migrants from Central and South America.

 

“Like districts and schools across the county, our enrollment has been impacted by fluctuations resulting from the pandemic as well as long-term trends in birth rates,” said First Deputy Chancellor Dan Weisberg. “Chancellor Banks and his leadership team are focused on increasing enrollment in our public schools, and these efforts are starting to show signs of progress.”

A shrinking school system poses a challenge for New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his education chief since school budgets are tied to headcount. The city has tried to stem the outflow with policies like a streamlined admissions process, a renewal of the city’s gifted and talented program, and district-wide dyslexia screenings.

Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks said on Monday that schools wouldn’t lose any money due to reduced headcount, thanks to federal stimulus funding the city is still working through.

“We know that our entire school community was and still remains deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Adams. 

Heading South

Education officials said this year’s drop was driven by both a decline in new students, as well as enrolled students who left the system.

Students who left New York City public schools to attend school outside the city increased dramatically in 2021-22, which the department said is likely a delayed impact of the pandemic. Students most often moved to schools in neighboring New Jersey,  Southern US states, other parts of New York state, and Florida, which saw a 91% jump from 2019 to 2022. 

Students in poverty were more likely to move to Pennsylvania and southern US states. 

To put the New York City losses in context, the education department said the Los Angeles Unified School District enrollment declined by 1.9% and Chicago Public Schools enrollment declined by 2.5% from a year ago.

--With assistance from Amanda Gordon.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.