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The Department of Education closed three schools due to COVID-19 infections Thursday — the most in a single day this academic year.
The agency shuttered Eagle Academy for Young Men II in Brooklyn, PS 18 in the Bronx and Robert E. Peary School in Queens due to case surges.
A total of nine schools have been closed this year thus far and four are currently locked up.
Until yesterday, the DOE had never shuttered more than one in a single day.
Eagle Academy, which enrolls 700 students, logged 23 new student cases and 10 staff infections over the last week.
At PS 18, which enrolls 517 kids, seven student cases were discovered this past week. No staff cases were reported.
Peary, which hosts nearly 1,000 students, reported nine new staff cases this week. No students are currently infected.
“We do not hesitate to take action to keep school communities safe and our multi-layered approach to safety allows us to respond quickly and stop the spread,” said DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer. “All staff at DOE are vaccinated and all students at these schools will have a device to ensure live, continuous learning.”
The agency and Mayor Bill de Blasio have stressed that no systemwide shutdown is in the offing despite a surge in cases in recent weeks — and particularly over the last few days.
“I feel very confident about our ability to support our schools, support our kids,” de Blasio reiterated Friday.
The DOE reported a yearlong high of 592 new coronavirus cases Thursday, 379 students and 221 teachers.
Thousands of city students are currently unable to attend classes due to closures of individual classrooms.
As of Thursday, 859 classrooms were temporarily closed, which is down slightly from Wednesday’s 877.
“All students should be equipped with devices to engage in live, synchronous remote learning,” the DOE said Friday.
The agency has stressed that only roughly 1 percent of all city classrooms are currently closed and that there are roughly 1,600 schools in the system.
The nation’s largest school district will recess for winter break next Thursday and will resume classes on Jan 3.
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