NEW YORK — As COVID cases continue to rise across New York City, another three public schools have been forced to temporarily close their doors due to outbreaks, according to city data on Monday night.
According to the DOE’s daily COVID case map website, there were at least seven city schools closed amid a surge in cases, with another 45 under investigation for possible closure.
The three newly closed schools are P.S. 65 Mother Hale Academy and the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, both in the Bronx, and Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn.
Their 10-day closure begins Tuesday and they will remain closed through Dec. 30, according to the DOE.
These new closures come after four public schools were closed on Friday. Those schools will remain closed through Dec. 26.
Students at the schools will return to classrooms after winter break on Jan. 3. All affected students will utilize remote learning on days when school is in session.
Information made available by the Department of Education also shows there were at least 337 active classroom closures and 2,843 partial classroom closures citywide, as of Monday evening.
A spokesperson for the DOE told PIX11 News on Tuesday that schools remain safe for students despite the uptick in cases and closures.
“We have an arsenal of resources to support our schools in this moment. Our system is built to easily adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of this pandemic and our principals make decisions that best support the unique needs of their communities,” the spokesperson said. “Our schools continue to be safe thanks to our multi-layered approach to health and safety, and we have over 24,000 substitute teachers and substitute paraprofessionals ready to support schools to have full continuity of high-quality learning.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday that despite the concerning spike in cases across the city outside of schools, the classroom is still one of the safest places for children right now. He said regardless of case numbers, a citywide shutdown for schools was not on the table.
As of Monday night, across all New York public schools, there were 521 students and 289 school staff members who had recently tested positive.
There have been 13 COVID-related school closures in total since the beginning of the academic year in September.
