Pennsbury Band's France Trip Scrapped Over Coronavirus

FAIRLESS HILLS, PA — A planned Pennsbury High School marching band trip to France has been canceled over concerns about the new coronavirus.

School officials and other organizers had scrambled to line up the France trip, which would have happened in early April, after scrapping plans for a trip to China due to similar concerns.

"We have announced that the band trip to France is cancelled," said Theresa Ricci, director of secondary education at Pennsbury. "While we recognize that the students are disappointed, the safety and security of our school community is our foremost concern."

Ricci said the school district is working to make sure families of band members get the "greatest possible refunds" after paying deposits for the trip.

Pennsbury's school board had approved the China trip last year. From April 2-10, the band was scheduled to visit Shanghai, China's largest city, and Beijing, its capital.

But as concerns about the coronavirus, now officially known as COVID-19, began ramping up, band officials were able to instead schedule four performances for marching and jazz band members in France — at Disneyland Paris, at the Normandy American Cemetery, at a French university along with French high school students and a stand-still performance at the Eiffel Tower.