The data come from the New York State Education Department’s Student Information Repository System (SIRS) and show that during the 2016-2017 school year:

• 148,215 students were identified as homeless by NYS school districts and charter schools.
• This represents a 6% increase from the 2015-2016 school year.
• The New York City Department of Education identified 104,088 students experiencing homelessness.
• Students in temporary housing now make up approximately 5% of the total student population in NYS and 10% of the student population in NYC.

“One out of every ten NYC students is homeless,” said Kim Sweet, AFC’s Executive Director. “The number of children and youth experiencing homelessness in NYC is twice the size of the entire Boston public school system.”

“We are pleased that Chancellor Carmen Fariña identified addressing the needs of students who are homeless as one of her priorities for this school year,” Sweet said. “Over the past few years, the City has taken some positive steps, including offering yellow bus service to kindergarten through sixth grade students living in shelter, increasing pre-K enrollment among children living in shelter, and hiring more than 30 Department of Education social workers for schools with high populations of students living in shelter. Now, we urge the City to expand the number of DOE social workers for students in temporary housing, ensure high-level leadership on this issue, and devote the resources needed to address the significant challenges faced by the rising number of students who are homeless.”