JAMAICA, Queens (PIX11) — Roughly 1 million NYC Public Schools students are heading back to the classroom.
To combat overcrowding in schools, about 11 facilities across New York City have more than 4,600 new seats this year.
Queens leads with more than 2,800 new seats, followed by Brooklyn with 1,600 and Manhattan with 275. Expansion projects also helped create those new seats.
Another big change this year, the new AI ban.
Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a full pause on the use of artificial intelligence inside classrooms between 2-K and 8th grade.
High school students will still learn about AI and use the technology, but with stronger limitations.
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The mayor said this is an important step to understand how AI works and use it effectively in the classroom without compromising learning.
As far as screen time, new guidance was announced this year.
2-k to 2nd grade – no one-on-one screen time at all
Grades 3 to 5 – up to 30 min a day
Grades 6 to 8 – up to 45 min a day
Grades 9 to 12 will be based on their course.
The ban is expected to impact as many as 600,000 public school students in the 2026-2027 school year.