Schools in Athens close for big game

ATHENS, Ga. --- For years, the Georgia-Florida college football game has challenged Athens area principals.

Teacher absences skyrocket the Friday before the annual game played 360 miles away in Jacksonville, Fla., leaving administrators scrambling to fill vacant classrooms.

This year, the Clarke County School District closed schools.

After studying the absences, administrators found that almost twice as many teachers call in the Friday before the big game than on an average school day.

Before the 2007 game, 136 teachers called in and the district could find only 113 substitutes.

On an average day during the 2007-08 school year, 69 teachers did not come in, and only one class was left without a substitute teacher.

This year, nearby Madison and Oglethorpe counties also are giving teachers and students today off.

"I think it's a wonderful confluence of purposes," said Tad MacMillan, the principal of Barrow Elementary School.

"When you have teachers who have a chance to take a deep breath and regroup, that's a good thing for children and instruction. Sometimes you just make it into Thanksgiving holidays with your last bit of energy."