Hispanic and white students will be heading back to New York City public school classrooms more than any other ethnic demographics when schools reopen on December 7th, according to data released by the city Department of Education.
The data only tallied 160,000 of the 190,000 kindergarten through fifth grade in-person learners, discounting 30,000 early childhood students receiving instruction at community-based organizations. Those CBOs are still finalizing their demographic data, the DOE said. The statistics also don't take into account the 35,000 new in-person students who opted for blended learning between November 2nd and November 15th.
Hispanic students make up the largest portion of the in-person student body with 69,077 returning to classes, adding up to 42.8% of the in-person learners, according to the data; Hispanic students were 41% of the public school population in the 2019-2020 school year. Teachers can expect to see 40,169 white students show up next week, translating to 24.9% of in-person learners in that category, much higher than the 16% of total 2019-2020 public school population which were white students.
While these numbers seem to indicate some type of confidence in school buildings by Hispanic and white families, other families appear more skeptical over sending their children back. The data shows 28,385 Black students, or 17.6%, will be back in the classroom next week. Black students had made up 22% of the student population during the last school year, so the in-person figure is a striking number given that there are more Black students than white students systemwide yet there will be 10,000 fewer in-person Black learners than white ones starting next week. These numbers slightly conflict with Mayor Bill de Blasio's argument that he reopened schools because low-income parents of color asked for it.
Asian families are also more reluctant about sending their children back, with 18,592 in-person learners, translating to 11%, for a demographic that typically makes up 18% of students.
The figures appear to suggest a continued lack of confidence from Black and Asian families in having their young children head back to the classroom, which city officials continue to say are safe given the low COVID-19 infection rates in schools as tracked through the randomized testing program. They also indicate trends initially outlined in a remote survey released by the DOE showing more Asian families opting in to fully remote learning, with wary families telling Gothamist/WNYC that the unknowns surrounding this virus are simply too great for their children to return.
With fewer children physically attending school—and an estimated 700,000 staying fully remote for the remainder of the school year—de Blasio is pushing for young children to be taught five days a week in person, a proposal that can create even greater stability for young children and their socio-emotional learning. It would also be a win for de Blasio, who took plenty of criticism for his decision to reopen the schools back in September.
Middle and high school students will be staying home for the entire month of December, with estimates that they'll return to classrooms next month.
