Report | Intentional and Inclusive School Mergers

Executive Summary

How do you address the challenges of a public school system with just under one million students across over fifteen hundred schools, where some schools face severe overcrowding and large class sizes, others are caught in a cycle of declining enrollment and resources, and the entire system is highly segregated and unequal?

This question has long required real‐world answers, and it is especially relevant at the current moment due to changes to the New York State Education Law (“the class size law”) capping class sizes for public schools in New York City. Solutions to ensure compliance with the new class size limits are complex and consequential. The mandate will impact individual school budgets, school construction, staffing of teachers and other school‐based professionals, individual school operations and programming decisions, and enrollment — with attendant implications for equity in the distribution of resources needed.

While many schools are burdened with overcrowding and large class sizes, there are also underutilized schools located in communities with a history of disinvestment, struggling with a myriad of issues exacerbated by a lack of resources and segregation. The juxtaposition of over vs. under‐utilized schools demands further attention if New York City is to approach the implementation of the class size law effectively and equitably.

This report showcases an evidence‐based approach for one viable, potentially cost‐effective solution for compliance with the class size mandates that centers diversity, equity, and excellence for all students: intentional and inclusive school mergers. Given the high cost of new school construction, consolidation of schools to better utilize existing school buildings is likely to be among the proposals to reduce class sizes — but it must be rooted in equity and prioritize “Real Integration” rather than inequity and gentrification.

This report highlights a successful local example: the intentional integration of two previously segregated District 13 schools into Arts and Letters 305 United (“United”). The exploration of United’s community processes, their challenges, and how they overcame them showcases school mergers as a viable solution to reducing class size and promoting equity and integration in New York City schools. United also demonstrates that school consolidation can serve as a cost‐efficient means of meeting the new class size caps, while driving greater financial stability and integration in schools.

This report, authored in partnership by New York Appleseed and the New York City Comptroller’s Office, couples citywide data analysis with a case study of United, interviewing more than 30 parents, staff, and students about the merger process to inform the recommendations presented here.

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