Thomson's win over Washington County in the first round of the playoffs set up a long drive for players, coaches, cheerleaders and band members. Those that have to travel to the second round game against Dougherty in Albany will leave early enough to make the 210-mile journey.
But what about the rest of the students and teachers system-wide who want to go and support the Bulldogs as well? The Board of Education has the solution. They voted during a Wednesday planning session to let school out at 1 p.m. on Friday to allow for travel time.
"That way everybody can go and not rush down there," McDuffie County Superintendent of Schools Mark Petersen said. "It's a four hour drive."
The early release includes all schools and grades in the McDuffie County system from Pre-K through 12th grade.
"I don't know how you determine who can go and who can't go when you've got children," Dr. Petersen said.
Only one problem arose from the early release plan, though.
"The only thing we're really looking at right now is after-school programs," Dr. Petersen said. "They're kind of doing a poll right now to see how many folks need to have after school and see if we've got enough to be able to handle teaching that."
