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The Department of Education announced that it was closing three more schools in Queens today because of swine flu fears, bringing the total of closed schools to 24 in 20 different locations. And in response to growing concern that it was not being straightforward about the disease’s magnitude, the department also said it would begin posting up-to-date attendance data for all city schools on its Web site.

The newly closed schools are PS 242 in Flushing and PS 130 and P 993, which share a building in Bayside. They will reopen on Tuesday, after the long weekend, along with most of the other closed schools, the department said. A few schools are scheduled to reopen on Friday.

Comptroller William Thompson, City Council members, and even usually timid members of the Panel for Educational Policy have criticized the DOE over the quality of its communication about the flu crisis. Today, Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm announced that the department would start sharing to-the-moment attendance data, in a move she said parents and teachers have requested. The data, which will be updated daily, are available here.

I eyeballed the attendance data quickly and saw lots of elementary school attendance rates far below the citywide average rate of 93 percent of elementary schools. Attendance in the Queens districts where the flu is most severe is obviously down significantly: JHS 169 in Flushing, which usually has 94 percent of students present, had only 66.9 percent attendance today, for example. (more…)

Amid concerns about its swine flu precautions, the city added three more schools to its list of those shuttered by swine flu suspicions today. Four other private and charter schools also announced that they would close after experiencing higher-than-normal rates of students reporting flu-like symptoms.

The schools included one public school on the Lower East Side and the Horace Mann School, a top-flight private school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Both Manhattan and the Bronx had not seen any swine flu-related school closures before today.

The other schools that the Department of Education decided today to close are PS 130 in Manhattan, PS 35 in Queens, and Merrick Academy Charter School, located in Jamaica, Queens. Several non-DOE schools decided independently to close, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein told reporters earlier today. Those schools were Horace Mann; St Joseph’s School in Astoria, Queens; Holy Family School in Flushing, Queens; and three sites of South Bronx Charter School. 

Yesterday’s Panel for Educational Policy meeting was unusually spirited as panel members questioned Klein about the department’s swine flu policy. (more…)

A day after a Queens assistant principal died from swine flu, the teachers union says it is monitoring 40 schools where higher-than-normal numbers of children are calling in sick. The United Federation of Teachers said today it is launching a hotline to keep track of the disease. 

The union’s watch list doubled in size over the weekend, spokesman Ron Davis told GothamSchools. At least four more schools were closed today, bringing the total number of closed schools up to 14, according to the Department of Education. Davis said the list of 40 schools includes some that have already been closed.

The union is using its hotline as an information source for people to call in and learn which schools are closed in their district. Union chapter leaders will report to the hotline daily about absentee numbers for students and teachers at their schools. (Each district in Queens, where the epidemic appears to be centered, has its own number; the other boroughs have one number each.)  

The UFT gave the Department of Education and the Department of Health the list of at-risk schools today, Davis said. The two city agencies decide together which schools should close.

Davis said teachers are remaining calm. “There are teachers out there who are obviously concerned but our teachers as a rule don’t panic,” he said.

The mayor addressed the disease’s spread in a press conference today, saying that it’s possible more schools could close this week.