3 More District 15 Schools Hit With Coronavirus: DOE

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Three more school buildings in Brooklyn's District 15 have reported coronavirus cases, according to education officials.

Hellenic Classical Charter School, a pre-K center at Bishop Ford School and P.S. 372 in Gowanus were among the schools in Brooklyn that reported at least one new coronavirus case between Friday and Sunday, according to a map from the Department of Education.

The cases at the pre-K center and at P.S. 372 prompted a classroom to be shut down since the person had been in the building. At Hellenic, no action was taken because the person had not exposed anyone else to the virus, according to the map.

Per DOE policy, one or two cases in the same classroom prompts a closure of that room and requires all close contacts of the person to quarantine for 14 days. They did not specify whether there was one or two cases at the District 15 school with the closed classrooms.

The new cases are among at least a dozen in Brooklyn since Tuesday's return of elementary and middle students to in-person classes. High school students returned to buildings on Thursday.

They also come as schools in nine "hotspot" ZIP codes were closed Tuesday given concern about surges in coronavirus cases in those neighborhoods.

So far, four schools in Brooklyn not including those closed Tuesday have temporarily been shut down because of coronavirus cases since staff started reporting back to their buildings on Sept. 8.

Stay up-to-date with news about coronavirus in schools by checking this page: MAP: Brooklyn Schools That Have Reported Coronavirus Cases, which will be updated as new cases are reported, or by subscribing to your local Patch.