DENHAM SPRINGS - Livingston Parish Schools announced that the Denham Springs High School and Southside Junior High will be closed Thursday because too many teachers will be absent. 

Superintendent Joe Murphy said they tried to hire substitutes for the day, but too many teachers had called out. 

“The volume of absences that has been declared is greater than we can appropriately manage at this time. This large shortage of employees means campus leadership would not be able to provide a normal learning day for our students, and lacking this many personnel could create a safety concern for students and employees,” Superintendent Joe Murphy said. “Due to these circumstances, we felt the safest action at this time is to cancel classes on that campus tomorrow.”

Officials at both schools said they will continue school on Friday. 

The school shut-down comes after Livingston Parish residents failed to pass a one-percent sales tax to raise teachers salaries. Tuesday, the school system announced it had canceled a job fair due to "low attendance."