Too much flu: Florida Panhandle school district closes for day

PORT ST. JOE, Fla. – With one-fifth of students, along with dozens of teachers and bus drivers, out sick with the flu this week, all Gulf County schools will be closed Friday.

"Flu activity continues to be on the rise, and we are experiencing a significant impact from influenza-like cases in our school system," Gulf Coast schools posted on its Twitter feed.

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Two Port St. Joe schools had more than 100 students absent Wednesday. Both the county's two elementary schools and both high schools will be sanitized during the closure and are scheduled to be reopened Monday. 

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“We have been advised by the health department and providers to close Friday, and maybe the three-day weekend will provide us some distance,” Norton told The Port St. Joe Star. “We have had 20 percent of our student population out every day this week. We were running out of substitute teachers and we were running out of bus drivers. It just made sense to be proactive."

The district will also be administering flu shots from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at both county elementary schools.