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The city principals union ripped the Department of Education Friday for accusing Staten Island middle school staffers of failing to social distance after a teacher tested positive for the coronavirus.

About fifty employees at IS 151 in Port Richmond Center were forced to quarantine after the infection was confirmed on Tuesday, according to the DOE.

An agency spokesperson said the action was necessary after contact tracers linked the infected person to others within the school and blamed a lack of social distancing.

But Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Mark Cannizzaro said the city’s testing and tracing personnel do not have the authority to make the determination that staff didn’t properly distance.

The union leader said “It was highly irresponsible and incorrect for the DOE to state that safety protocols were not followed at this school” and demanded a retraction and public apology.

“With mistaken public comments like this, the DOE will no doubt further erode trust with administration and teachers,” he said in a statement.

DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer countered that investigators “determined social distancing was not reliably followed at all times” at the school.

“We know that this school year comes with a lot of new guidelines to keep everyone safe,” he said. “The information in this case led to a cautious approach to quarantine aligned to our protocols to ensure staff are safe and any spread is stopped.”

Styer said there would be no disciplinary action will be taken.