The Paton-Churdan school administration has decided to close the building for Friday, due to high rates of absences because of illness.

Principal Annie Smith tells Raccoon Valley Radio most of the days over the past couple of weeks, there has been at least ten percent of students absent because of illness, with the peak of two days being as high as 20 percent. Smith acknowledges that staff have also been getting sick, so she talked with Superintendent Brian Johnson, the P-C School Board, and the Greene County Board of Health and the decision was made to close the school building for Friday so that maintenance can deep clean everything in preparation for everyone to come back to school on Monday.

Smith notes that a lot of the illnesses have been very contagious including Influenza A and pneumonia, and with all students and staff in one building, that means illnesses can spread very quickly. She appreciates the support from everyone involved with the decision-making process and encourages high school students to go to their respective classes at Greene County High School on Friday, if they are not sick themselves. 

Smith adds that the only extra-curricular activities that are scheduled for the weekend include state speech and Keegan Minnihan who is competing in the State Elks Hoop Shoot Contest, which will remain as scheduled.