Another 30,000 students have opted for online-only classes this school year since the Department of Education first released numbers from a learning preference survey eight days ago.
The DOE released an update Aug. 24 on the survey findings; there are now 337,394 students who have requested to take all of their fall classes completely remotely. A week ago, 304,880 of the city’s 1 million public school students opted out of blended learning, according to the department data.
The new total accounts for about a third of all New York City public school students.
The new data comes amid mounting pressure from parents and educators to delay the start of in-person classes until questions about blended learning logistics are answered, all schools are equipped with sufficient personal protective equipment and that all classrooms have proper ventilation systems to prevent potentially COVID-19 filled air from remaining stagnant in schools.
Out of those students not returning to school buildings this fall, 37 percent identify as Hispanic, 27 percent Asian, 20 percent Black, 11 percent white and 3 percent other, according to the survey. One percent of respondents did not choose to share their race or ethnicity.
In addition, about 3,000 early childhood students will enter a 3-K, pre-K or kindergarten class, according to a DOE spokesperson.
These numbers though are likely to change again in the future since families who select to keep their children home for classes always have the option to request a blended learning schedule.
DOE officials also released an update on remote learning requests broken down by district with the percentage of those students who also potentially live in poverty.
| District | % Remote Learning Requested | Economic Need Index |
| 1 | 40% | 67% |
| 2 | 36% | 53% |
| 3 | 28% | 49% |
| 4 | 36% | 83% |
| 5 | 29% | 83% |
| 6 | 30% | 83% |
| 7 | 28% | 92% |
| 8 | 35% | 83% |
| 9 | 29% | 93% |
| 10 | 34% | 84% |
| 11 | 32% | 79% |
| 12 | 27% | 93% |
| 13 | 39% | 61% |
| 14 | 35% | 75% |
| 15 | 32% | 57% |
| 16 | 29% | 83% |
| 17 | 32% | 77% |
| 18 | 30% | 74% |
| 19 | 33% | 87% |
| 20 | 42% | 77% |
| 21 | 35% | 74% |
| 22 | 34% | 65% |
| 23 | 29% | 88% |
| 24 | 30% | 73% |
| 25 | 42% | 64% |
| 26 | 46% | 49% |
| 27 | 37% | 69% |
| 28 | 38% | 62% |
| 29 | 37% | 64% |
| 30 | 31% | 68% |
| 31 | 27% | 53% |
| 32 | 27% | 87% |
| 75 | 32% | 89% |
| 79 | 3% | 86% |
This story originally appeared on amny.com.
