Report Reveals 154,000 NYC Public School Students Experiencing Homelessness

New data released on Monday reveals a startling reality: nearly 154,000 public school students in New York City were homeless last year, equating to about one in every seven students.

Among these children, over 65,000 spent at least one night in a city homeless shelter, while approximately 7,000 were residing in motels, according to statistics compiled for the annual report by Advocates for Children of New York.

This alarming figure represents the highest number of homeless students in the city’s public schools to date, continuing a worrying upward trend that has been ongoing for the past decade, according to a report acquired by NY1.

“For the tenth consecutive year, more than 100,000 students have been identified as homeless, with this year marking a rise above 150,000,” stated Jennifer Pringle, project director at Advocates for Children. “These numbers are undeniably concerning.”

The report also disclosed that around 67% of students residing in shelters are frequently absent from school.

In addition, roughly 67% of students living in the shelters are chronically absent from class, the report found.

“That means that 67% of students living in shelters miss more than 10% of the school year. That is roughly a month of school,” Pringle said.

“40% of families are placed in shelter in a different borough from where they go to school — not just neighborhood, not community school district, different borough. That poses all sorts of challenges for families,” she added.

“Long commutes, meaning parents can’t work. They can’t look for permanent housing because they’re busy spending their day, taking their child back and forth to school.”