Teacher shortage forces schools to close before UGA-Florida game

ATHENS, Ga. — The Clarke County School District found a way to solve its problem of so many teacher absences the Friday before the Georgia-Florida football game – simply close school.

Last year 137 teachers called in saying they wouldn’t be in class and the district was able to find only 113 substitute teachers.

Administrators studied the absences and found that almost twice as many teachers called in the Friday before the game – played 360 miles away in Jacksonville, Fla. – than on an average school day.

Schools in nearby Madison and Oglethorpe counties also are taking the day off.

Tad McMillan, principal of Barrow Elementary, said, “I think it’s a wonderful confluence of purposes.”