Pennsbury Schools To Close Friday For Coronavirus Prep

FALLSINGTON, PA — All schools in the Pennsbury School District will be closed Friday, as officials work to prepare for the possibility of a longer shutdown due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

The district posted notice of the Friday closures on its website at 6 p.m. Thursday.

According to the notice, Pennsbury schools will close Friday "for deep cleaning and instructional planning, should the district need to close for an extended period in the future."

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Elementary conferences scheduled for Friday are canceled, as is the KidsCare Day Off program and all after-school and evening activities.

All faculty and staff, including support staff, was asked to report to their regularly scheduled buildings or departments.

SATs will be held as scheduled on Saturday, the district said.

Earlier Thursday, Pennsbury Superintendent William Gretzula had said the district would be putting plans in place to slow the spread of the virus "as soon as reasonably possible."

He said specific plans will be announced by noon on Friday. But they are likely to include enhanced cleaning, travel restrictions, canceling community events at Pennsbury schools, loosening attendance requirements for students, faculty and staff and limiting school access to community members and volunteers.

"As this is an extremely fluid situation, we anticipate directives may need to shift and we will continue to communicate our efforts to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19 throughout the district and county," Gretzula said in a letter to the school community.

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