Under state law, schools must conduct at least four lockdown drills each year. Lawmakers and advocates say that’s “excessive and ineffective.”

Before the pandemic, at least 137 schools serving roughly 70,000 students did not have a school nurse, according to one estimate.

As childhood hunger is on the rise, New York City is scaling up a program for schools to donate food directly to families in need or to food pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens.