Crown Heights Daycare Falls Under COVID Investigation: DOE

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Crown Heights daycare with multiple coronavirus cases was under investigation by the city as public school kids returned to school Monday, according to the Department of Education.

Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, found on Fort Street, was marked as under investigation Monday on the DOE's interactive map detailing coronavirus cases across the city.

The daycare first fell under investigation on Thursday, the map shows.

The investigation comes after at least eight classrooms at the facility were closed given a coronavirus case last week, a measure that will be less common moving forward given new coronavirus testing protocol that was put into place as students return from holiday break.

Starting Jan. 3, at-home test kits will be sent to students who've had contact with the virus in the classroom. Instead of automatically switching to remote learning, asymptomatic students who test negative on the at-home kit can go back to school the next day and will be given a second at-home test within a week, according to officials.

Under DOE guidelines, schools are only closed if an investigation reveals that there is widespread transmission in the school.

The city's coronavirus rules have led to only 17 full school closures so far this year, far less than the hundreds of extended closures in the 2020-21 school year under previous guidelines.

Still, the number of investigations has ramped up in recent weeks. A total of 133 schools have been investigated this year for possible closure, according to the DOE page.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and health officials have said the new at-home tests should limit the number of classrooms that need to be closed.

They have argued that classrooms are the safest place for city kids, noting that data shows less than 1 percent of students exposed in public schools came down with the virus. Outside of schools, more than 14 percent of people exposed catch COVID-19, according to officials.