More Than Half Of Bayside Students Opt Into All-Remote Learning

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A majority of public school students in District 26 will not step foot in a classroom when the new academic year starts this month.

At least 54 percent of students in Northeast Queens have opted to instead attend all their classes virtually, according to data released Tuesday by the NYC Department of Education.

That translates into roughly 17,500 of the students enrolled in the district, based on city enrollment data from the 2019-2020 school year.

District 26 — which includes the neighborhoods of Bayside, Douglaston, Fresh Meadows, Little Neck and Oakland Gardens — so far has the largest share of students signed up for all-remote learning of any city school district, according to Department of Education data.

No other school district had a majority of its students enrolled in the fully remote option as of Tuesday.

In District 25, also in Northeast Queens, 49 percent of students have chosen all-remote schooling, according to the data.

Citywide, 61 percent of students are slated for a mix of in-person and remote learning, though they have the option to switch to all-remote schooling at any time. The rest will be fully remote.

Remote learning rates vary depending on the school district and students' backgrounds, Chalkbeat New York has reported: Non-white students were likelier to opt for all-remote schooling, while the rates were lower in low-income neighborhoods.

In District 26, about 53 percent of students are Asian, 17 percent are Hispanic, 15.5 percent are white and 11 percent are black, according to Department of Education enrollment data from the 2019-2020 school year.

The district's economic need index of 49 percent, which refers to the likelihood that a student is in poverty, is tied for the lowest of any city school district.