Council Rock Cancels Book Bowl Event Over Coronavirus Concerns

NEWTOWN, PA — The Council Rock School District has canceled the elementary school's annual "Book Bowl" due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus in Pennsylvania. The event was scheduled for March 12.

Additionally, in the same announcement, school officials are asking the community to prepare now in the event that schools need to close for one or more days.

Bucks County's first cases of the virus, also known as COVID-19, were announced Tuesday. Stay up to date on developments, sign up for Patch news alerts.

"We knew that this would eventually be the case, and these cases in and of themselves are not necessarily reason for greater concern regarding the safety of our schools than have been the previous cases in our region and state. These two individuals live in the same household and are under quarantine and, like the previous cases in Pennsylvania, these two cases involve people who attended an out-of-state event, which is where they were exposed to the virus," an announcement from Superintendent Robert Fraser said.

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Fraser said Council Rock officials are concerned due to reports that one of the cases in Montgomery County was due to community spread — that means not through travel or direct contact with a known infected person.

"Due to the timing of this potential community spread relative to tomorrow evening’s Book Bowl event, we have decided to cancel the Book Bowl. This event would have had approximately 800 people in attendance, and we will error on the side of caution by canceling this event," Fraser said.

The event will not be rescheduled. Instead, "we will plan an alternative way for the children to celebrate during the school day in each of our elementary schools."

Fraser also alerted families that they should keep all children home from school if they're not feeling well. "Additionally, please have a plan in place in case we need to close school for one or more days," the notice said.