By Limiting Class Sizes, NYC Lawmakers Hope To Curb Virus Spread

NEW YORK CITY — A proposed New York City Council bill would decrease the number of students in K-12 classrooms with the aim of keeping students healthy.

Council Education Committee Chair Mark Treyger and Council Speaker Corey Johnson on Thursday introduced a bill that would raise the minimum classroom space to 35 square feet per student. Currently for grades 1-12, the minimum space is 20 square feet; pre-K and kindergarten classes already have a standard of 35 square feet.

Treyger said in a release that this measure would help keep public school classrooms safe.

“We are still facing a serious pandemic and there is an increasing possibility that COVID variants will be with us for years to come," he said.

"The world has forever changed because of this pandemic and there’s no going back. We need to ensure our city’s building occupancy codes are up to date with modern science and public health data."

These restrictions would also apply to areas such as music and art rooms, assembly spaces, and counseling areas.

If the legislation passes, all schools in New York City would have to be compliant by September 2024.

By the start of the 2022-23 school year, 33 percent of schools would have to be compliant and 66 percent of schools would have to be compliant by the 2023-24 school year.

A press release from the United Federation of Teachers states that limiting class capacity will allow for better ventilation in schools. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said there are many reasons to support smaller class sizes.

"Making sure that we are not cramming too many children into each classroom is an important step to reassuring parents that we have learned from this pandemic, that it is not business as usual," Mulgrew said in a statement.

For context, this would mean a 500-square-foot classroom could hold a maximum of 14 students.

The legislation will next be considered by city council's Committee on Education.

NYC Department of Education students return to school on Sept. 13 for the 2021-22 school year.