6 Astoria, LIC Schools Close Classrooms For COVID Cases

ASTORIA-LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — A dozen public schools in northwest Queens have students, teachers, or staff quarantining this week, but after the city relaxed its quarantine policies last week most of the people missing tested positive for COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, at least 12 public schools in Astoria and Long Island City have closed or partially closed classrooms due to a coronavirus exposure, according to the interactive map from the Department of Education. But, more than half of all quarantines were partial, meaning that while some COVID-positive people weren't in class, vaccinated children who were exposed could still be in school.

All of the closures in northwest Queens began after the city revised its COVID-19 protocols last week to allow unvaccinated children to remain in school after they come in contact with a COVID-positive student. That change coincided with the vaccine mandate for teachers, which took effect Monday, and followed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Still, a total of 50 classrooms across the city were closed as of Monday evening, with another 109 under partial quarantines. Since the school year began last month, only one school — P.S. 79 in East Harlem — has had to go temporarily remote due to a virus outbreak.

Here's the rundown of Astoria and Long Island City school closures:

Classrooms closed

The following school has one or more classrooms closed due to a positive case in a student, teacher or staff member:

• The Riverview School: the K-12th grade school closed one classroom last Tuesday, Sept. 28. The classroom is slated to reopen this Thursday, Oct. 7.
• The William Hallet School/P.S. 076: the elementary school closed one classroom last Thursday, Sept. 30. The classroom is slated to reopen this Saturday, Oct. 9, meaning kids should be back in the classroom by the following Monday. P.S. 076 also has two classrooms under partial quarantine.
• P.S. 112 Dutch Kills: the elementary school closed one classroom last Thursday, Sept. 30. The classroom is slated to reopen this Thursday, Oct. 7.
• P255Q: the special education school closed one classroom in its Astoria building, located at 32-52 37th Street, last Thursday, Sept. 30. The classroom is slated to reopen this Thursday, Oct. 7.
• P.S. 085 Judge Charles Vallone: the elementary school closed on classroom last Friday, Oct. 1. The classroom is slated to reopen this Saturday, Oct. 9, meaning kids should be back in the classroom by the following Monday.
• P.S. 002 Alfred Zimberg: the elementary school closed two classrooms last Friday, Oct. 1. The classroom is slated to reopen this Friday, Oct. 8.

Partial quarantines

These schools were under partial classroom quarantines, in which vaccinated children can stay in school despite being exposed, as long as they do not feel sick:

• The William Hallet School/P.S. 076 (two classrooms)
  
• P.S. 122 Mamie Fay (two classrooms)
• Energy Tech High School
• Hunters Point Elementary School
• Hunters Point Community Middle School
• Long Island City High School
• P.S. 234

Altogether, 1,260 classrooms have been closed due to COVID exposures since the start of school on Sept. 13. That's less than two percent of the 65,000 spaces the city is using as classrooms this year. (The city typically has around 48,000 classrooms, but added other spaces to help with social distancing, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.)

Under new policies, entire schools will only be closed this year when there is evidence of "widespread transmission," as determined by the Health Department and Department of Education.

Patch Editor Nick Garber contributed to this report.