New York City schools with falling enrollment will not face budget cuts this fall, continuing a policy that guarantees each school in the system receives at least as much funding as it did the year before, even if they’re expecting fewer students.
Staring down a multibillion-dollar budget gap, Mayor Mamdani faced pressure this year from fiscal watchdogs to rein in costs associated with the push known as “hold harmless,” which was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure financial stability during a crisis.
Mamdani was ultimately able to avoid those contentious cuts with the help of Gov. Hochul, who provided state aid and budget flexibility for the city.
“We need to ensure that our schools are well-funded, despite the fact that we’ve seen enrollment declines,” Chancellor Kamar Samuels told the City Council on Monday during a hearing on the education budget.
“If we do remove our hold harmless funding, it would be a huge whiplash effect to schools that would have to really contend with a lot of concerns about the budget, and in some of our most vulnerable communities, they would feel the brunt of the issues,” the schools chief added. “And so, I think we are proud to for this year be able to hold our schools harmless, to make sure that they are stable.”
Seritta Scott, chief financial officer of the public schools, declined to share an estimated cost of the policy, citing ongoing quality assurance checks, though she confirmed it was “on par with over hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The decision was first reported by the local education news source Chalkbeat, which obtained a Sunday memo to principals.
Education advocates say to end the push now would pull the rug out from under schools, and force principals to let go of teachers and cut programming, such as arts or school libraries. But budget hawks claim it’s not sound policy and could shortchange schools that most need the per-pupil dollars.
“If the city were to resume funding schools based on the number and needs of the schools’ students, it would likely save $400 million annually, the amount allocated to schools as ‘hold harmless’ funding in school year 2025-26,” read testimony earlier this year by the Citizens Budget Commission.
Public school enrollment was down 2.4% this year, and is also expected to shrink by another tens of thousands of students in the next decade.
“Hold harmless” was initially put in place with federal stimulus dollars. As those programs expired, former Mayor Eric Adams tried phasing out the additional support, but found it was too politically unpopular to double back. The ex-mayor faced protests over the cuts and damaged his relationship with the City Council, which approved the budget before members went on to apologize for their votes.
During Monday’s hearing, some Council members voiced support for continuing the policy.
“There’s no budget that’s more important to me than the 40-odd schools that are in my district,” said Councilman Lincoln Restler, a progressive Democrat from Brooklyn. “So, we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect them and fill in gaps for them.”
But asked by Restler if the system could claw back funding from schools midyear if fewer students than projected eventually enroll — as it used to before the pandemic — the chancellor was non-committal.
“Right now, we have held initial budgets harmless,” Samuels said. “We’re going to continue to have conversations about the sustainability.”
Meanwhile, Councilman Phil Wong, a conservative Democrat in Queens, suggested the time to end the policy is now.
“The COVID lockdown has been lifted since 2023 February,” Wong said. “My question to you is, why are we still holding schools harmless? Why are we funding empty seats?”
Initial school budgets are set to be released early next week.