NYC Proposes Closing Two Small Harlem Schools and Moving Upper West Side School to New Site

New York City education officials have proposed closing two of the city's smallest schools in Harlem: the Urban Assembly School for Global Commerce, a high school serving 112 students, and the School of Earth Exploration and Discovery Harlem, the city's smallest middle school, which enrolls just 40 children. Both schools would shut at the end of the current school year amid concerns about low enrollment and weak academic performance. Officials are also proposing to relocate The Center School, a grades 5–8 school on the Upper West Side, roughly 1.5 miles north to a campus at West 109th Street that houses P.S. 165, to ease overcrowding in its current building, which it shares with a popular elementary school. This is a different site from last year's relocation plan — which targeted a building on West 61st Street — that collapsed after fierce community pushback. All three proposals are expected to go before the Panel for Educational Policy for a vote on December 16. The moves come as K–12 enrollment across the city has fallen about 19%, or roughly 187,000 students, over the past 12 years. Chancellor Kamar Samuels has said tackling small, underenrolled campuses is a priority, arguing it could cut costs and expand academic offerings. The city is also expected to propose closing a Bronx middle school, I.S. 224, though no formal proposal has yet been made.