A mix of illnesses prompted leaders to temporarily close some schools in eastern Idaho over the past week, and one rural elementary principal says a lack of community substitutes exacerbated the problem.

All Ririe schools shut down on Thursday due to a “high number of student and staff absences related to illness,” the district announced on Facebook Wednesday evening without providing more specifics. The district runs on a four-day school week with no classes on Friday.

Superintendent Jeff Gee wrote in the announcement that he hopes the long weekend will allow the illness to “run its course” and give custodians enough time to sanitize classrooms. EdNews called the district on Thursday morning but no one answered.

One week earlier, on Jan. 22, Hazel Stuart Elementary in Shelley closed for the day. The school is about 25 miles southwest of Ririe, on the other side of Idaho Falls.

Principal Leslie Hoopes told EdNews that 13 staff members were sick last Thursday and 15% of students were absent the day before. It was a mix of rhinovirus, norovirus and influenza, she said. Symptoms included coughing, sneezing, running nose, fever and upset stomach.

“It was a whole gambit that hit staff members and students,” Hoopes said.

Closing school for the day became necessary, because teachers could not have effectively taught students, she said.

When Hazel Stuart teachers call in sick, they first try to cover shifts with paraprofessionals or other staff members. But eventually they must call community substitutes.

“It’s just as much a rural school issue with lack of substitutes,” Hoopes said.

Eastern Idaho Public Health spokesperson Brenna Christofferson told EdNews on Thursday that school districts can close schools for different illnesses and are not required to report details to the local health district. But schools must report cases of the measles.

“For this specific situation, we don’t know any more information than the public does,” Christofferson said.