Three Bronx schools are among 11 in New York City cited as needing improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act, according to the state Education Department.

Those schools include Banana Kelly High School, Pulse High School and West Bronx Academy for the Future. The schools risk eventually being closed unless students make the grade.

In December, the department released the statewide list of elementary and middle schools that need improvement based on 2006-2007 third- and eighth-grade English language arts and math assessments. More than 300 schools are currently deemed as failing, including 81 high schools.

That state also removed three Bronx high schools from its needs improvement list Tuesday. They include Samuel Gompers Vocational High School, Monroe Academy for Visual Arts and Design and Monroe Academy for Business and Law.

New York State Education Department