Borough & districtFull briefing
The chronic absenteeism map looks like the temporary-housing map
The longer form of the briefing for this story: the original thesis, the supporting findings the data team flagged, and the reporting directions a journalist could follow. For the short version and the data analysis, see the main story page.
Thesis
Schools with high concentrations of students in temporary housing (shelters, doubled-up families) have systematically worse attendance, year after year. The relationship is strong enough that you could draw the chronic absenteeism map from the temporary housing data alone — pointing at housing policy, not school policy, as the leverage point.
Supporting findings
- NYC publishes % students in temporary housing per school (we don't have this loaded yet — separate xlsx).
- Anecdotally: schools with 20%+ STH have chronic absenteeism well above citywide average.
- Manhattan's chronic absenteeism lead (41%) probably tracks Manhattan shelter density (highest in NYC).
- Compare with school-level attendance among STH-only kids (NYC publishes by subgroup).
- Bronx + Brooklyn shelter expansion (post-2022 migrant influx) — did absenteeism rise faster at recipient schools?
- Cross-reference with NYC migrant influx data and HOTLINE 311 housing-emergency calls by district.
- Mayor Adams has emphasized housing as 'the foundation of all other progress' — does the data support that for school outcomes?
- What works for STH kids specifically? NYC's 'Educational Support and Family Resource Centers' (ESFRCs) — measure outcome lift at served schools.
- Federal McKinney-Vento law requires transportation support — is NYC compliant + effective?
- Compare with LA Unified's homeless-student services for benchmarking.
Reporting directions
- Ingest the NYC DOE Temporary Housing data feed.
- Build the absenteeism vs STH-concentration scatter.
- Profile a Bronx school with high STH and improved attendance — what they did.
- Interview Liza Pappas (NYC Independent Budget Office) on her STH research.