P.S. 130 on Baxter St. this week became the first Manhattan school to close because of concerns about swine flu.
The 1,081-student elementary school closed Wed., May 20 and will reopen next Tues., May 26. Seventy-six students at the school had flu-like symptoms over the past week, but there are no confirmed cases of swine flu at the school, the city said.
The P.S. 130 Parents Association blog emphasizes that the city closed the school “as a precaution due to a high level of kids being out sick,” not because anyone has swine flu.
Principal Lily Woo and other staff were still at the school Wednesday morning, though students were not. Woo’s staff declined to comment.
So far, the city has closed 24 public schools, mostly in Queens, and some schools have closed voluntarily. The city has not drafted a standard procedure for closing schools but is acting on a case-by-case basis.
P.S. 130, also known as the Hernando Desoto School, draws mainly from Chinatown and last year sent more than half of its graduates to middle school programs for advanced students. Many of the school’s incoming students come from low-income families who do not speak English, but the school posted an “A” two years in a row on the city’s new report card evaluation.
— Julie Shapiro
