GUY, Arkansas — Three Arkansas school districts did not hold classes on Monday as the flu continues to sweep through the state.
More than 13 thousand people have tested positive for the flu since September and the Arkansas Department of Health says 33 people have died this season.
Guy-Perkins, Quitman and Southside School districts were all closed due to the flu.
Often we report on schools shutting their doors when the contagious illness takes over, but what exactly goes on for the next 24 hours before students and teachers come back?
Dr. Joe Fisher, Superintendent of Guy-Perkins School District, said Monday wasn't normal.
"It's an awfully quiet place today," he said.
Fisher said it wasn't the typical start of the school week at Guy-Perkins High School with empty hallways, chairs stacked up and notebooks untouched.
"We miss our students, but we know how important it is that we get this done before they come back," he said.
Fisher said his district needed to take a break from the classroom after most of its pre-school students were out with the flu last week and the elementary and high school students weren't getting far behind.
"We have approximately 340 students right now in our district, so we were getting close to about 50 that were out," he said.
Fisher said last Friday in the afternoon is when they decided to close school for Monday after the numbers just kept adding up. Right under 20% of their students were already out with the flu and 20% of their teachers had been affected.
"We just thought this would be a good time for us to have a long weekend, let people recuperate and also give us the chance to come and clean the buildings," he said.
Fisher said despite the deserted classrooms, there was a different type of work being done.
Four custodial crew members spent five hours of their day wiping down countertops and disinfecting lockers to get rid of any germs still lingering around.
"All of the places that humans can touch and have interaction, they worked very hard to make sure that area was clean and disinfected," he said.
From the faucets to the chair legs, not a speck of dust was left in every inch of every building in the Guy-Perkins School District.
Fisher said thanks to a support staff that doesn't quit.
"We don't appreciate enough the work that they do because we don't see it. A lot of times it's after hours or days like today where the majority of people aren't here," he said.
All three school districts did take Monday as an AMI day, or Alternative Methods of Instruction day.
Fisher said his district will be back in school on Tuesday and that's when they will look at numbers again to see where the district stands, which will determine if they will be back in the classroom on Wednesday.
Cabot Public Schools, however, have reported that they will have no schools on February 6 and 7 (this Thursday and Friday) after what they said "an ilness outbreak."