Coronavirus Cases Close 3 Park Slope-Area Schools

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Three schools in and around Park Slope have been temporarily shut down due to coronavirus cases detected in the building, according to the Department of Education.

P.S. 133 on Baltic Street, P.S. 372 in Gowanus and I.S. 88 in South Slope were all facing extended closures this week given at least two cases of coronavirus in each building, according to the Department of Education's map of active cases.

The closures will last through the mid-winter recess, which ends Friday.

At P.S. 133, which was first shut down on Monday, it will spill into next week. The last day closed is marked as Feb. 24. P.S. 372 and I.S. 188's closures will both end over the weekend.

According to the Department of Education's guidelines, school buildings must automatically close pending an investigation when at least two COVID-19 cases linked to each other are confirmed in separate classrooms. The closure is extended when the infections occurred outside of school or a link between them cannot be determined.

The three Park Slope-area schools are among nearly 200 across the five boroughs that were under coronavirus closures. There were 174 facing an extended closure and 11 under a 24-hour shut down as of Wednesday, according to the map.

A total of 503 classrooms were also closed due to the virus. In Park Slope, that includes P.S. 321 and P.S. 10.

Elementary K-5 students, pre-K, 3K and special needs students are the only students currently going to classrooms. De Blasio has said middle school students will return to the classroom Feb. 25.