As predicted by Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden and others, continued H1N1 exposure in New York City means that more individuals are being affected by the virus. While in most cases, symptoms are mild and short-lived, the Department of Education, together with the Department of Health, has elected to close 21 schools where H1N1 clusters have been identified.

In addition, a few independent, parochial, and charter schools have also closed: the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, St Joseph's Academy in Queens, Holy Family School in Flushing, and the three schools that comprise the South Bronx Charter school network.

Three public schools will close today for up to five days: PS 130in lower Manhattan, PS 35 in Hollis, Queens, and the Merrick Academy Charter Schoolin Jamaica. Together, the schools serve approximately 2,200 students. The DOE reports that 21 schools have been closed due to H1N1 with up to 15,000 students (and at least as many parents) affected.

Students who are missing school don't need to miss homework, Chancellor Klein said yesterday. Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning Marcia Lyles -- who may soon exit the DOE for a new post in Delaware-- and her staff have prepared grade-by-grade packetsof worksheets and assignments to keep students on track, he said. The packets are optional, and it's up to parents to judge their relevance to their child's current schoolwork. (Generic math worksheets in the 8th-grade guide, for example, may be appropriate, too easy, or too hard, depending on each student's math curriculum. The 3rd-grade guideruns to 86 pages, with daily schedules, vocabulary lists, suggested activities and a "dancing raisin" science experiment from the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco.) There are no resources available for high school students.

Prior to these closures, the city closed 15 public and private schools in Queens (IS 238, PS 16, Q255,IS 5, JHS 74, PS 107, MS 158, Our Lady of Lourdes, IS 25, World Journalism Preparatory, Q233, PS 209, P9, PS 19 and PS 32) and one in Brooklyn (IS 318). More closures may be imminent, although the Chancellor said a press briefing yesterday  that the mayor is hoping for the contagion-stanching benefits of the Memorial Day holiday, when kids won't be as densely concentrated as they are at school.

Update:   Dr Marcia Lyles, Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning, will leave the DOE, according to information released this afternoon by the Chancellor's office.  Santiago Taveras, founding principal of two Bronx high schools, Banana Kelly and the Urban Assembly Academy for Careers in Sports, will serve as interim acting Deputy Chancellor.  He currently serves as a Senior Supervising Superintendant, where "he oversees the Department of Education's high school and district superintendants."