Two-Thirds Of Crown Heights Schools See Ventilation Issues: Study

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Nearly two-thirds of Crown Heights' 37 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 Crown Heights, at least 24 of the neighborhood's 37 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 Crown Heights:

Achievement First Crown Heights Charter School - Brooklyn

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

PS 161 The Crown - Brooklyn

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

Success Academy Crown Heights (Brooklyn 7) - Brooklyn

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

Academy for Health Careers - Brooklyn

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

Boys and Girls High School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Brooklyn Arts and Science Elementary School - Brooklyn

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

Explore Empower Charter School - Brooklyn

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

Explore Empower Charter School - Brooklyn

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

KIPP AMP Charter School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School - Brooklyn

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

MS 394 - Brooklyn

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

Nelson Mandela High School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

New Bridges Elementary - Brooklyn

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

PS 93 William H. Prescott - Brooklyn

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

PS 138 Brooklyn - Brooklyn

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

PS 191 Paul Robeson - Brooklyn

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

PS 243 The Weeksville School - Brooklyn

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

PS 262 El Hajj Malik El Shabazz Elementary School - Brooklyn

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

PS 289 George V. Brower - Brooklyn

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

PS 335 Granville T. Woods - Brooklyn

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

Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) - Brooklyn

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

Research and Service High School - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

Satellite East Middle School - Brooklyn

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

Success Academy Prospect Heights (Brooklyn 6) - Brooklyn

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

The Brooklyn Green School - Brooklyn

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

The School of Integrated Learning - Brooklyn

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 2
• Supply fan deficiencies: Does not exist
• Report

Aspirations Diploma Plus High School - Brooklyn

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

Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment - Brooklyn

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

Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre - Brooklyn

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

Clara Barton High School - Brooklyn

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

Ebbets Field Middle School - Brooklyn

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

International High School at Prospect Heights - Brooklyn

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

Medgar Evers College Preparatory School - Brooklyn

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

PS 221 Toussaint L'Ouverture - Brooklyn

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

PS 241 Emma L. Johnston - Brooklyn

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

PS 375 Jackie Robinson School - Brooklyn

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

The High School for Global Citizenship - Brooklyn

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

Read more and view Chalkbeat's searchable database here.

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