Park Slope School Closed By COVID Amid Push To Change Rules

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A middle school in Park Slope was temporarily shut down due to coronavirus cases on Monday as lawmakers push the city to relax its rules requiring such closures.

M.S. 51 William Alexander Middle School was hit with a 24-hour closure after at least two coronavirus cases were detected int he building, according to the Department of Education's map of active cases.

The school is one of four Park Slope-area public school buildings that were shut down Monday because of coronavirus cases. P.S. 133 on Baltic Street, I.S. 88 on Seventh Avenue and P.S. 372 on Carroll Street were finishing out extended closures that started last week.

Under the city's two-case rule, an entire school campus must shut down if two or more cases are confirmed without any clear links to one another. The closure can last between 24 hours and 14 days.

The closures come as local Council Member Brad Lander leads a campaign to change the two-case rule. The rule has been under review for at least six weeks, but DOE leaders have not yet revealed how or if they will change the controversial approach.

Lander was one of a bipartisan group of lawmakers that pressed the department for updates on when the policy might be revised last week. The lawmakers are advocating for a test-and-trace model that would close a school only if there is evidence of a spread within the building.

Under the two-case rule, 2,235 schools across the five boroughs have faced extended closures and 812 have been shut down for 24 hours since September.

Teacher union leaders, meanwhile, have stood behind the requirement, saying it is too soon to relax coronavirus precautions.

Read more here: End The 2-Case Rule For Coronavirus School Closures, Lander Says