Capital District Times

The majority of students in Rensselaer County schools during the 2021-22 school year were white, according to the New York State Education Department.

Of the 18,152 students attending Rensselaer County schools, 72.1% were white. Black students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 9.7% of Rensselaer County students.

In the previous school year, white was also the most common student ethnicity in Rensselaer County, representing 72.9% of the student body.

Carroll Hill School had the most even distribution of races among county schools, with 29.6% Black students, 28.5% white students, 22.5% Hispanic students, 18.8% multiracial students, and 0.6% Asian or Pacific Islander students.

Compared to the previous year, total enrollment in public schools in the county dropped by 1% in the 2021-22 school year.

In 2022, New York had roughly one teacher for every 12 students, which is lower than the national average of one teacher for every 16 students. A lower student-to-teacher ratio has been found to help improve students' school performance.

A 2021 report from the NYC Center for Innovation Through Data Intelligence revealed racial and gender groups were seeing better outcomes compared to 2013, though significant disparities remained between different groups. Persistent and substantial gaps were observed, particularly between Black and Hispanic students.

School name	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Algonquin Middle School	White	90.8%	584
Averill Park High School	White	91.8%	924
Bell Top School	White	75.7%	288
Berlin Elementary School	White	95.6%	271
Berlin Middle School/High School	White	96.2%	366
Carroll Hill School	Black	29.6%	351
Castleton Elementary School	White	94.4%	462
Citizen Edmond Genet School	White	68.5%	466
Columbia High School	White	78.2%	1,280
Donald P. Sutherland School	White	87.3%	268
Gardner-Dickinson School	White	90.3%	340
Green Meadow School	White	80.4%	378
Hoosic Valley Elementary School	White	94.3%	456
Hoosic Valley Junior Senior High School	White	93.8%	419
Hoosick Falls Elementary School	White	90.5%	549
Hoosick Falls Junior/Senior High School	White	91.7%	505
Howard L. Goff School	White	77.1%	939
Knickerbacker Middle School	White	53.9%	475
Lansingburgh Senior High School	White	56.5%	643
Maple Hill Junior/Senior High School	White	91.1%	415
Miller Hill School	White	91.5%	390
North Greenbush School	White	95.5%	22
P.S. 14	White	34.6%	413
P.S. 16	White	44.2%	249
P.S. 18	White	62.8%	301
P.S. 2	Black	43.1%	262
Poestenkill Elementary School	White	92.7%	344
Red Mill School	White	72%	411
Rensselaer Junior/Senior High School	White	52.1%	511
Rensselaer Park Elementary School	White	51.9%	428
Tamarac Elementary School	White	90.6%	491
Tamarac Middle School High School	White	88.9%	632
Troy High School	White	44.2%	1,095
Troy Middle School	White	37%	811
Turnpike Elementary School	White	62.8%	511
Van Rensselaer Elementary School	White	48.5%	505
West Sand Lake Elementary School	White	89.4%	397