NYC School Admissions Process Overhauled To Tackle Diversity

NEW YORK CITY — A sweeping set of changes will reshape the middle and high school admissions process for at least the next year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

De Blasio on Friday announced a one-year pause on middle school “screens” and the complete elimination of geographic priority for high school admissions over the next two years.

Those changes, and others outlined by Chancellor Richard Carranza, will begin for the 2021-2022 school year.

De Blasio said they’ll work to make sure the city’s specialty high schools more reflective of the city’s diversity.

“I think these changes will improve justice and fairness but they'll also make the process simpler and fairer particularly given what we're dealing with this year and all the results of the coronavirus that have changed the way we have to do things,” he said.

Beyond the pause on selective screens for middle schools and elimination of geographic priority, de Blasio said the admissions process will expand diversity planning to all 32 districts over the next four years and open up grant applications to five more district this year.

Carranza said the middle school screens criteria included state tests that weren’t canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as grades or attendance data.

He said admissions at schools with more applications and seats will be decided by a lottery-based system.

High school geographic priorities for admissions will be phased out in the next two years, he said.

“These geographic screens have kept too many students out of the high schools of their choice,” he said. “This is an important step to open back up so that access and opportunity to your high school options aren't limited by where you live.”

Carranza said the city will continue to use the SHSAT standardized test for specialized schools. Registration will begin Dec. 21, with testing to begin Jan. 27.

De Blasio said the steps are necessary to fix a broken admissions process for the city’s specialty schools.