A canceled production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at a Pennsylvania elementary school garnered plenty of media coverage this week, as the reasoning over the cancellation was initially perceived as being over a line of dialogue invoking religion.

Conservative media outlets and local broadcast stations reported that parents at Centerville Elementary School believed that the play was cancelled due to two parents allegedly complaining about the line, "God bless us, everyone."

Both Breitbart and Fox News picked up the story, and an opinion piece by Fox News & Commentary host Todd Starnes titled, "SCROOGE! Grade school cancels performance of 'A Christmas Carol'" was widely circulated on social media.

The school reported it received 200 phone calls about the play, and comments on the Breitbart story were cited as the reason behind the family's decision to leave town, according to Lancaster Online.

One Facebook comment specifically cited by the news site stated, "It would be nice if we had the addresses of those concerned citizens and, I bet, this info is known to people living in the area."

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

The family told Lancaster Online their only involvement with the play took place in September, when they asked that their child not take part — which the school readily agreed to. There were no complaints; no requests to cancel the play itself, the family said.

The family is hoping to return and bring their child back to school eventually, but said they were going to leave Lancaster County "for a bit."

For its part, the elementary school had released a statement on the issue, and later a FAQ sheet on the incident, explaining the reasoning behind canceling the long-running school play. The school denied that the play was cancelled over a complaint about the line, and the statement read in part:

We are aware of rumors circulating in the community about the fifth grade play at Centerville Elementary School. Additionally, we understand that some parents are upset that the play was cancelled, but we have heard from families on both ends of the spectrum, including those who expressed appreciation that the play, as it had traditionally been prepared and delivered, was cancelled.We want to clarify that the decision to cancel the play was a building decision, based upon interactions between myself and the fifth grade teaching team. This decision was made based primarily on instructional opportunities for students. Producing and performing a play is not part of the written curriculum for fifth grade.

Over the years, preparations had evolved to take 15 to 20 hours of instructional (educational) time to produce this play. Given changes in state standards in recent years, we could not defend the commitment of this kind of instructional time to something not part of the fifth grade curriculum. The teachers agreed that they did not want our students to be put at a disadvantage relative to their peers from other schools in preparation for 6th grade; therefore, the play was cancelled.

... One rumor we've been addressing is that one or two families influenced this decision. That's just not true. The instructional time issue was our primary concern.

Read the full statement here.

Editor's note: After this story was published, the Anti-Defamation League released a statement calling parts of the original Lancaster Online report "untrue":

"News reports alleging that a Jewish family has 'fled' Lancaster County are untrue and damaging," said Nancy Baron-Baer, ADL Regional Director. "We spoke with the family, who explained that they went on a previously-planned vacation for the holidays. Stories like this can sow fear in the Jewish community and beyond, and it is important to stop the spread of misinformation.