They’re going, going, gone.
Families in some of the city’s top school districts are leaving the Department of Education at an alarming clip, according to state data.
Mayor Eric Adams speculated this week that parents who’ve ditched the city and its public schools are likely to return as soon as Gotham gathers itself.
But that ongoing flight — which is hammering school budgets — is hitting traditionally popular districts especially hard.
Elementary school enrollment in Manhattan’s District 2, which encompasses affluent areas like Greenwich Village and Soho, is down 10 percent this year and 17 percent over the last two.
According to state figures, the district went from roughly 16,040 kids in 2020 to over 13,333 this year — a loss of more than 2,500 students over that span.
A concerned district source noted that that would equate to the closure of up to seven district elementary schools.
In Brooklyn’s District 15, which includes Park Slope, elementary school enrollment has skidded by 16 percent since the onset of the pandemic, and shed more than 1,800 kids over that stretch.
The Maurice Sendak School, a reliably high-performing elementary school on 8th Street in Park Slope, has lost more than a third of its enrollment over the past two years, dropping from 340 to 219 this year.
At PS 58 on Smith Street, enrollment has dropped by more than a quarter over the last two years, going from 1008 to just 740 this year.
Both Sendak and PS 58 boast test scores well above the citywide average.
District 2 has also seen hair-raising student losses at individual schools.
In Chelsea, PS 11 has seen enrollment drop from 900 to 730 over the last two years — a plunge of 17 percent.
And PS 41 in Greenwich Village is down to 492 this year from 666 in 2019, which is a dip of 26 percent.
“The past two years were tumultuous for families nationwide, and they made the best decisions suited to their unique needs and circumstances,” said DOE spokesperson Sarah Casasnovas. “While the trends we saw in New York are no different, we are confident that families will return to classrooms as we turn the corner on COVID. Chancellor Banks is committed to engaging with families and working to restore trust in New York City schools.”
