City says 3-K seats are getting closer to home for NYC families | amNewYork

The city reported that it extended 99,921 offers for 3-K and pre-K seats for the coming school year. The average travel distance for 3-K families was reduced by about six blocks. A larger share of families received programs they ranked on their applications, with top-choice placements rising from 65% to 70% and top-three placements rising from 80% to 84%. Assignments to programs not listed declined from 15% to 12%. For those families, average home-to-program distance fell by 0.85 miles, about 17 blocks. Out-of-borough offers dropped sharply, with fewer than 200 families receiving them and all placements within three miles of home. The changes aim to make free early childhood programs more usable for parents across neighborhoods.

"The city extended 99,921 offers for 3-K and pre-K seats for the coming school year. City Hall said the average travel distance for 3-K families was cut by about six blocks. The administration said more families received one of the programs they ranked on their applications. The share of families receiving their top 3-K choice rose from 65% last year to 70% this year, while the share receiving one of their top three choices increased from 80% to 84%, according to the city."

"The number of families assigned to programs they did not list on their applications also declined. City officials said those placements fell from 15% of families last year to 12% this year. For that smaller group of families, the average distance between home and program dropped by 0.85 miles, or about 17 city blocks. Universal child care should mean meeting parents where they are, no matter where they live, Mamdani said during a May 19 press conference at The Garden School in Jackson Heights, Queens."

"The city also reported a sharp drop in out-of-borough 3-K offers. Last year, 720 families received offers outside their home borough, with most placements more than three miles from home. This year, fewer than 200 families received out-of-borough offers, and all were within three miles of home, according to City Hall. Mamdani said the changes are meant to make the city's free early childhood programs more usable, not simply larger."

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