Council Rock South Closes Amid Rising COVID-19 Cases

NEWTOWN, PA — Council Rock South High School is closed for in-person instruction through Wednesday after the school district reported an increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the high school.

There have been eight confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days at the high school that have been infectious while in school, Superintendent Robert Fraser said in an email to parents over the weekend.

The school district's COVID-19 reporting dashboard shows a total of 19 cases at the high school this past week and 30 over the past two weeks, though some of those are virtual and hybrid students who were not infectious while in school, Fraser said. Still, it marks the largest single and two-week totals for any Council Rock school thus far this year.

"As noted previously, I am also concerned from a staffing standpoint," Fraser added. "Naturally, some of these positive cases involve staff members, while other staff members have needed to be quarantined."

This past week, only 19 percent of Council Rock South teachers were able to be filled by a substitute, he said, compared with 40 percent across the district.

Fraser said the in-person closure could be extended past Wednesday if more COVID-19 cases are discovered.

The Council Rock School Board approved a Feb. 1 start date for five-day in-person instruction for grades 6-12 at its meeting last week.