New York City families this admissions cycle can apply to any public middle school in the city and rank as many high schools as they’re interested in attending, the Adams administration announced Friday.
The policy changes come amid intense pressure on Mayor Adams to show he’s not distracted and able to lead the city, as he fights federal bribery and corruption charges unveiled the day before in a sweeping indictment.
“Our administration continues to expand access and increase equity across our public school system, and today’s announcement on admissions changes for middle and high schools does just that,” Adams said in a written statement, released as he walked into Manhattan federal court for his arraignment.
“Improving educational choice for New York City students is a key part of our mission to make our city a better place to live for New York families, and we are continuing to deliver on this mission,” he added.
While the change to the middle school application process will give families more choices citywide, the Adams administration said it would also “strengthen neighborhood schools.” Middle school applicants will continue to receive priority for schools in their home districts — but, after Friday’s announcement, can apply to nearby programs that were technically outside of their zone.
The change also addresses a demand from families, officials said. About half of the 1,120 respondents to a 2023 middle school admissions survey said they would have applied to schools outside of their zoned district, if that was an option for them, according to results shared in a press release.
Nyah Berg, executive director of the school-integration nonprofit New York Appleseed, said it was previously not unheard of for families to attend middle school just outside their district. But apart from the couple dozen programs that billed themselves as citywide, the benefit was limited mostly to savvy parents, who knew they could reach out directly to the Education Department about the school across the street, technically in another district.
For high school, families now can rank an unlimited number of schools on their applications, reducing the chances a student is matched with a program not listed on his or her application, but potentially requiring more research by families. Previously, applicants could rank up to 12 schools.
It was not immediately clear how much of a difference that would make for families. About 38% of high school applicants put down the full 12 choices in recent admissions cycles, according to Education Department data.
The city’s public school applications web site, MySchools, is also getting a new tool that estimates students’ chances of getting accepted by a given program. For each school, families will see an icon indicating whether they have a “high,” “medium” or “low” chance of receiving an offer, helping them put together a strong application.
“Having an icon that says if you have a high chance, medium chance or low chance, I think encourages a balanced application and helps with setting expectations,” Berg said.
But some of the changes at the high-school level immediately sparked confusion for parents.
On Thursday at dismissal time, all families of eighth graders were informed they “can apply to 12 high school programs on this application,” according to an e-mail from the city’s Office of Student Enrollment shared with the Daily News.
Press Secretary Nathaniel Styer denied that it was a slip up by the Education Department, as the stakes are high during a federal investigation ensnaring City Hall and leadership transition after Chancellor David Banks announced his retirement earlier this week: “A complete application is 12 schools, but you have the ability to rank unlimited options now,” Styer explained.
But sending a confusing e-mail to parents about to start the high school application process is “not helpful,” said eighth-grade parent Kaliris Salas-Ramirez.
“Now is not the time to show the public that they can’t trust the information they receive from the Department of Education,” she said.
Friday’s announcement follows word this summer Chancellor Banks would reinstate an admissions boost for Manhattan families at six of the most in-demand high schools nearby, including Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Millennium High School and others. Top Education Department officials have yet to announce changes to admissions policy that would be under consideration to meet the state’s class size law if they do not receive additional funding.
Applications open Tuesday for high school and Oct. 9 for middle school. Families’ lists are due by Dec. 4 and 13, respectively.
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