KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When you walked through the halls of schools in Scott County Wednesday, you did not hear kids laughing or see teachers giving lessons. Instead, the smell of disinfectant overpowered everything else.
"Our maintenance workers came in at 6:30 this morning and will do so the rest of the week, sanitizing and disinfecting the school," said Keith Shannon, the principal at Robbins Elementary School. "We’ve had an increase in student absenteeism from being sick. We’ve been sending a lot of students home."
The superintendent for Scott County Schools said he made the decision to close school for the rest of the week after 16 percent of teachers called in sick Tuesday and 13 percent of students were absent. They are spending the rest of the week disinfecting classrooms and mopping hallways.
"Whenever we come back, we’ll have as clean of an environment as we can for our students," said Shannon. "Just cleaning and sanitizing every single thing in the school."
It wasn’t just runny noses and sneezing from students that forced the school system to close its doors, so many teachers called out sick they were left with no other choice.
"We were having a very hard time finding substitute teachers to fill in for the teachers," Shannon said.
As schools sit empty, health clinics are crowded with people needing to see a doctor.
Dr. Edward Capparelli’s waiting room has been full of patients with everything from the flu to strep. He said the school system made the right decision canceling classes.
"We’ve had a number of people out with illnesses and it’s all age ranges from children up through adults," said Dr. Edward Capparelli, Medical Director for Mountain People's Health Clinic in Scott County. "Influenza is highly contagious so when someone has influenza you do not want them exposed to other people."
Scott County is one of many East Tennessee Schools that will be closed Thursday. You can find a full list here.