Coronavirus Closes 2 More Park Slope Schools: DOE

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Coronavirus cases have closed down two more Park Slope schools, which returned to in-person learning after the holidays earlier this week.

P.S. 10 and P.S. 39 joined a local preschool, which was shut down earlier this week, as closed on the Department of Education's map of active cases on Thursday.

The P.S. 10 closure comes after a case was detected between Sunday and Monday at the school, though it had originally not required intervention from officials given that the person was believed not to have exposed the school community. The status of the school was changed Tuesday, according to the map.

At P.S. 39, at least five cases have been reported at the school over the last two days, prompting a 24-hour closure on Thursday. The previous four cases are marked as "no intervention," meaning the community is not believed to have been exposed.

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 Park Slope cases are among hundreds of active cases across the five boroughs.

More than 100 schools citywide are under coronavirus closures and 184 classrooms are closed, according to the map.

Only pre-K, 3K, kindergarten, elementary and students with special needs are learning in person given a full public school shutdown in November.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, before students and teachers went on winter recess, said middle school students will be the next group to return to classrooms. A timeline for their return will be announced this month, he said.

Officials hope to avert another disruptive citywide school closure that shifts all students to fully remote, as happened in November. Coronavirus cases across the city remain at months-long highs, but schools appear to be relatively safe.

Find more information on schools closures here.