February 16, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County Schools will be closed today (Friday) due to a high rate of absenteeism in the school system because of illness.
Director of Schools Patrick Cripps told WJLE that the student absentee rate system wide shot up to 17% Thursday due to sickness. Several teachers and support staff were also out sick.
“We thought that once we reached this level of absenteeism that it was time to close schools,” said Director Cripps.
Daily student attendance system wide is usually at 94% or better but had fallen to 83% by Thursday.
Schools were already scheduled to be closed Monday, February 19 for Presidents Day but are expected to re-open on Tuesday, February 20