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NYC schools to enroll at least 1,000 migrant children

New York City public schools are preparing to enroll more than 1,000 migrant children for this coming school year, officials said Friday.

The bulk of kids — some of whom have been shipped on buses from Texas to the Big Apple in recent weeks — are elementary- and middle school-aged.

The school districts expecting the largest influxes are Districts 2 and 3 — or most of Manhattan — as well as District 10 in the northwest Bronx, District 14 in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, and Districts 24 and 30 in eastern Queens.

Migrants from Texas arrive at the Port Authority bus terminal on August 17.
Migrants from Texas arrive at the Port Authority bus terminal on Aug. 17.
Jeenah Moon/REUTERS

“Today, we are all New Yorkers,” said Schools Chancellor David Banks, “and it is essential that we do everything we can to support these families who really need us.”

“This is a very fluid situation. There are students who are coming in every single day,” he added.

Banks, joined by other city officials at Department of Education headquarters on Friday, introduced an interagency plan to transition the families to the city’s school system before classes start on Sept. 8.

“We don’t know what the coming waves will look like,” said Banks. “But what I will say is that I believe that we have a very strong team in place that will meet the challenge.”

The DOE is hiring previously announced shelter-based staffers, who have taken on all the more significance since the shelters surpassed capacity with migrant families.

Advocates told The Post on Monday that the agency had delayed job postings for the year-round position. Currently, most shelter-based DOE staff work on 10-month schedules excluding the summer

“It’s being expedited now,” said Banks. “We were moving on it already, and all of a sudden this issue became front and center.”

The chancellor has also been leading a charge to recruit additional bilingual teachers — including two meetings with leaders of the Dominican Republic since the summer began.

A bus carrying migrants from Texas arrives at the Port Authority bus terminal
The students are expected to go to schools in different parts of the city.
Jeenah Moon/REUTERS

And while some staffers are coordinating with shelters to provide on-site enrollment help and accompanying families to DOE welcome centers, others will be placed at a migrant center when it opens.

Families are provided with backpacks and school supplies, and connected with city-run pediatric health clinics, officials said.

“We are literally holding hands, walking people through the process,” Banks said.

Officials said the city is also appealing to community groups and the federal government for help and support.

Mayor Eric Adams announced last month that the city’s shelter system was being overwhelmed by asylum seekers from Central and South America — some of whom were sent on buses by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to protest the Biden administration’s border policies.

Since then, buses have dropped off migrants in Midtown Manhattan nearly daily, with no indication of how many more families the city can expect.

School Chancellor David C Banks
School Chancellor David Banks said “it is essential that we do everything we can to support these families.”
Matthew McDermott

“Make no mistake — as more families arrive, we will be prepared to support their needs, be quickly enrolled in school, so that we are doing everything we can to preserve stability for them as they focus on education,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins.

Enrollment at public schools in the city was just over 919,000 for 2021-22 school year, including pre-K.

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