Late Wednesday night Livingston Parish Schools announced that Southside Junior High would be closed Thursday after they realized there would be a shortage of employees on campus, the second school in the district to cancel classes for the day.
Hours earlier, the district said Denham Springs High School would close Thursday amid overwhelming employee absences.
"School leaders at both campuses said they were unable to fill the declared vacancies with qualified personnel," a district press release said. "The shortages at both campuses would have prohibited those schools from providing a normal learning day for students, as well as present safety concerns for students and employees."
Both closures happened days after Livingston Parish voters rejected a sales tax proposal that would have provided raises for school employees, including teachers.
The district uses an online self-reporting system for employees to declare absences, according to Superintendent Joe Murphy.
Southside Junior High School serves 552 students in grades 6-8 and employs 46 teachers and staff, not including bus drivers and food nutrition workers.
On Tuesday, Livingston Parish Schools leaders announced that a job fair that had been slated for Saturday was postponed due to anticipated low turnout. Murphy said only 49 teacher applicants had registered for the event.
School leaders have said difficulty hiring quality teachers contributed to the district falling out of the state's top 10 highest-rated districts for academic performance last year.