The number of New York City schools at risk of closure because of subpar academic performance is at its lowest, Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced yesterday.

The number of city schools on the state list known as Schools Under Registration Review fell to 35, from 46 last year, according to the state Education Department. The agency designates schools as “under registration review” based on their performance on grades four and eight English and math assessments, or on the percentage of high-school students meeting graduation assessment requirements in English and math.

The number of SURR schools in New York City has fallen dramatically since 1997, when there were 104. Schools on the list risk having their administrators fired or their doors shuttered if there is not a marked improvement in students’ test scores.

“Our success over the last several years in removing schools from the SURR list shows that if the commitment is there, from principals and teachers and parents and students, and if the right resources are provided, math and literacy coaches, a uniform curriculum, and parent coordinators, students will succeed at higher rates,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters from M.S. 88, one of the 16 schools removed from the state review list.

Five elementary schools, five middle schools, two kindergarten-through-8thgrade schools, and four high schools in the city were removed from the SURR list, while another seven schools were put on the watch list.

Several of the schools that improved enough to be removed from the SURR list last year were part of the Chancellor’s District, a group of schools that enjoyed extra attention and resources because they were considered troubled.

“It shows what can be done when people work together with the resources and strategies that make a difference for kids,” the president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said. “But good as this news is, it is also bittersweet. The most effective method the school system has used to improve schools and get them off the list was the Chancellor’s District – a program of smaller class size, extended time for instruction for kids, and professional development for teachers. Of the 65 schools that went through the Chancellor’s District, only three now remain on the SURR list. Unfortunately, Chancellor Klein has chosen to eliminate the Chancellor’s District.”

The new additions to the SURR list are P.S. 230, P.S. 236, Junior High School 151, P.S. 156, Monroe Academy for Visual Arts in the Bronx, Far Rockaway High School in Queens, and Graphic Communications High School in Manhattan.

The day before yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg went to Far Rockaway High School to laud it for a dramatic reduction in incidents of violence in its corridors. The school had been deemed one of the 16 most dangerous schools in the city and designated an “impact school.” Police were sent to its hallways to restore order, and a strict code of conduct was put in force to make the school safe again.

Far Rockaway High dropped off the impact list this week only to land on a state list that threatens its existence unless test scores improved. Forty-four schools under registration review have been closed state-wide since 1989. Four were shuttered just a year ago.

In all, 53 schools statewide are on the review list. Last year, state education officials removed 22 schools from the list and added 11. State officials said the bar on academic standards this year was set higher than it had been a year ago. Schools are now added to the list if they fall to a certain point below academic performance standards in several areas.

“The SURR process has helped to improve the education of thousands of students,” the state education commissioner, Richard Mills, said. “The school accountability that has come about is continuing to help improve, or, where necessary, close and reorganize, many schools.”

Once a school is listed as under registration review, its leaders must come up with a plan of action to bring the school up to snuff.

“We all know that there’s a lot of work still to be done to create the public school system that our children deserve,” Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday. “And we know that success won’t happen overnight.”