Thousands of students who face economic hardship are being overlooked when getting their high school placements in the public school system, according to an audit released on Thursday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
Each year, more than 70,000 eighth graders apply to high school, ranking their choices. New York City Public Schools uses an algorithm to match students with high school programs. Admission depends on factors like available seats, program priorities and the student’s lottery number.
The audit, which does not include specialized high schools admissions, found that the system did not prioritize students in temporary housing. The matching algorithm used only one address per student, which meant as many as 7,000 students in shelters or temporary housing may not have received geographic priority for schools near both their current and former homes, as required by city policy.
In addition, NYCPS used free or reduced-price lunch eligibility data to identify low-income students. But because every NYC student can receive meals, NYCPS does not always collect the required paperwork, so some children may not be identified as low-income to receive priority for schools with diversity in admissions policies, the audit found.
“Thousands of New York City students rely on a fair and transparent system to get into the high school programs that fit their needs and to give them the best opportunity for a bright future,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “The system needs to be more consistent and transparent to ensure every student is matched according to the placement rules.”
There were also issues when students needed to be manually placed into high school. Auditors found that more than 200 students either didn't get a spot in a school they should have, or were placed in ways that contradicted NYCPS’ own rules.
NYCPS also lacks formal written policies guiding how the placement algorithm is run, how offers are approved or how exceptions should be handled, according to the audit. This lack of documentation increases the risk of inconsistent or inequitable outcomes, the comptroller's report said.
The city also failed to meet legally required deadlines for publishing admissions and enrollment data. Some reports were posted late or were missing key school-level information, limiting transparency for families.
After auditors raised this issue, NYCPS updated the reports to include the missing information. NYCPS also acknowledged the challenges in meeting these deadlines and indicated staff will work with the New York City Council to address compliance.
