PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — Due to a rising number of absences related to illness in both students and staff, Johnson County Schools has canceled school for all of next week.

The district would have already been out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, but decided to cancel Monday and Tuesday as well, in order to stop the spread of the illness.

“Please do what you can to keep yourself and your families protected and healthy during this period of time,” Supt. Thom Cochran wrote in a letter announcing the move. “Hopefully, this effort will put the illness behind us and we will be able to return to school healthy after the holiday.”