Coronavirus Cases Close Park Slope School Amid Remote Learning

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Even as public school students switch to all-remote learning across the city, education officials are still closing off school buildings linked to multiple coronavirus cases, including one in Park Slope.

I.S. 51 on Fifth Avenue was one of 25 buildings facing a 24-hour closure on Friday after multiple coronavirus cases were reported at the school, according to the Department of Education's map of active cases.

The closure comes after two classrooms were shut down at the building due to coronavirus cases, including one on Nov. 12 and another Friday, according to the map.

The shutdown likely only applies to any staff that still used the building given that public schools closed to in-person learning on Thursday after the city's coronavirus infection rate surpassed 3 percent. Officials are working on a reopening plan, but details remain murky.

Per DOE policy, a school building is closed when there are at least two cases from different classrooms, from an activity or exposure outside of school or when the link between them cannot be determined, according to the DOE.

In each case, the building is temporarily closed while the DOE starts an investigation into the cases. In the scenario when a link between the cases cannot be determined, the school is closed for 14 days, according to the guidelines.

Across the five boroughs, there were 25 one-day school closures and 89 two-week closures as of Friday. Education officials have temporarily shut down nearly 300 schools since buildings began to reopen for in-person learning in September.

Check the full map of active cases here.