Schools in Southeast Georgia's Ware County re-opened today after a 6 day break forced by a massive fire burning near Waycross. First through eight-grade students were in the middle of taking the multi-day Criterion Reference Competancy Test when officials closed schools last week because of the danger posed by smoke on the roads. The remaining parts of thoses tests will continue, but school officials don't know yet how or when the 6 days of school day absences will be made up. That'll be between the local district and the state Department of Education. One elementary school that sustained heavy sustained smoke damage is still closed. About 400 of those students went to school today at a Baptist church, with about a 10-percent absentee rate. School officials describe the opening as smooth, with only a broken down bus, unrelated to the fires, hampering students' first day back from an unexpected April break.
