A fox reportedly bit two students at Rocky Plains Elementary School while the students were outside, according to Newton County Animal Control Director Teri Key-Hoosen and Newton County School System officials.

Key-Hoosen said dispatch received the call around 11:30 a.m. and said an animal control officer was at the school; she said the animal fled back into the woods, but noted a trap has been set.

Sherri Davis-Viniard, Newton County Schools director of public relations, said the two students were 6-year-old boys and were bitten while playing on the playground.

Approximately 50 kindergarten students were on the playground when the incident happened around noon. Davis-Viniard said in a news release that a teacher was able to kick the fox and get the animal off the students. The children were immediately taken off the playground.

The school nurse treated both bitten students at the school and parents later transported them to a local hospital, Davis-Viniard said.  

All outside activities at Rocky Plains were cancelled. Counselors at the school spoke to the students as they were obviously frightened by the incident.

Rocky Plains Principal Miranda Jones did a school messenger call to notify all school parents of the incident immediately. Newton County School Resource Officers will be on scene to help with dismissal in the event the fox returns.