Half Of Park Slope Schools Have Ventilation Problems: Report

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — At least half of Park Slope's 17 public schools have some sort of ventilation problems, a potential roadblock in sending kids back for classes amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new report shows.

Education news site Chalkbeat has compiled inspection records for 1,700 of the city's schools as ventilation inspectors set out to determine whether their facilities are safe enough to allow students to return to class next month.

The report finds that more than 1,000 of the city's schools have documented ventilation problems.

In Park Slope, at least 10 of the neighborhood's 17 public schools had either problems with the air supply system — which brings fresh air inside the building — or the exhaust system, which brings stale air outside.

That number could also be even higher given that seven of the 14 schools did not have one of the inspection reports.

The reports are based on inspections between fall 2018 and summer 2019. Another round of inspections was conducted this summer but has not been released publicly.

Good ventilation lowers the risk of transmitting the coronavirus through the air, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that inspectors had already been deployed, checking every classroom in every school to ensure that windows can open and the supply and exhaust fans are working properly before students return Sept. 10.

But the new report shows the immense scale of the problem, and backs up claims by some teachers and principals that their school buildings were poorly ventilated and ill-equipped to welcome back students during the pandemic.

Here are the results for Park Slope:

Park Slope Collegiate - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 282 Park Slope - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 107 John W. Kimball - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

MS 51 William Alexander - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

The Maurice Sendak Community School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

PS 39 Henry Bristow - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

PS 133 William A. Butler - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

Magnet School of Math, Science and Design Technology - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

MS 266 Park Place Community Middle School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 0
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

JHS 88 Peter Rouget - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Millennium Brooklyn HS - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

PS 321 William Penn - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

PS 124 Silas B. Dutcher - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

New Voices School of Academic & Creative Arts - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Cyberarts Studio Academy - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Hellenic Classical Charter School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: Unknown
• Supply fan deficiencies: Unkown
• Could not find inspection

John Jay School for Law - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 1
• Report

Read more and view Chalkbeat's searchable database here.

Patch reporters Gus Saltonstall and Nick Garber contributed to this report.