Hatboro-Horsham Schools Announce Coronavirus Shutdown Plans

HORSHAM, PA — All schools in the Hatboro-Horsham School District will be closed until Monday, March 30 in response to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's order to shut down schools in Montgomery County over concerns about the new coronavirus.

Only "minimal and absolutely essential" school employees will be on site until then, school officials said Thursday.

"This closure is total and impacts all school and community events held in our buildings," Hatboro-Horsham officials said in a news release. "It also includes all athletics, field trips, and community-based experiences for students."

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Wolf ordered the shutdown of Montgomery County schools, mass transit and many public places after the county became a hotspot for the new coronavirus, or COVID-19. As of Thursday, 13 of Pennsylvania's 22 reported cases of the virus were in Montgomery County.

In addition to on-campus events, all student and staff field trips, off-site events and travel — including for sports and staff professional development — is canceled in the Hatboro-Horsham district, officials said.

Superintendent Curtis Griffin said the district still plans to let the school community know the results of coronavirus testing on a student at Simmons Elementary School in Horsham. The student was exposed to the virus by a doctor at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's facility in King of Prussia and later developed flu-like symptoms, school officials said.

Simmons Elementary had been closed since Tuesday because of the exposure.

Griffin said the Hatboro-Horsham School District continues to work with the state on ways to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are awaiting additional guidance from the state to help determine all the impacts of this directive," he said. "This guidance will impact our direction regarding deep cleaning all facilities, whether buildings could be opened for some or all staff during this time following cleaning and our plans to implement distance learning for our students. We will communicate about these and other decisions when we receive additional guidance and can plan accordingly."

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