Coronavirus Cases Close 3 More Bed-Stuy Schools: DOE

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Three more Bed-Stuy schools have been temporarily closed due to coronavirus cases detected in the building, bringing the total of schools closed in the neighborhood to five.

P.S. 304, P.S. 262 and P.S. 59 were all closed this week given at least two cases of coronavirus in each building, according to the Department of Education's map of active cases.

Both P.S. 304 and P.S. 59 were under extended closures while P.S. 262 was marked as a 24-hour closure on Friday.

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.

At P.S. 262, a classroom was closed at El Hajj Malik El Shabazz Elementary School on Friday and another classroom at EMBER Charter School, which shares the campus, had been closed down starting Thursday.

P.S. 304's campus was shut down Thursday and will stay closed until Feb. 6. P.S. 59 is set to open Feb. 3 after first closing on Monday, according to the map.

The other two schools currently closed in Bed-Stuy are set to open on Sunday after an extended closure that started late last week.

The five schools are among nearly 300 across the five boroughs that were under coronavirus closures on Wednesday. There were 213 facing an extended closure and 53 under a 24-hour shut down, according to the map. A total of 1,043 classrooms were also closed due to the virus.

Elementary K-5 students, pre-K, 3K and special needs students are the only students currently going to classrooms. De Blasio has said middle and high school students will return to the classroom in February.