The first two days of school in Philadelphia this week saw some principals making alternate plans, because teachers just didn’t show up for work.

KYW’s Mike DeNardo reports that 171 Philadelphia teachers failed to show up for the first day of school.  On day two, 201 teachers were out with no explanation, says Estelle Matthews, the school district’s HR chief.

That’s a small number compared to the 14,000 teachers who did report for work, but a big deal on day one, when a classroom is without a teacher with no notice.

Matthews says state law requires that teachers give school districts advance warning if they decide to hang up their erasers:

“Anyone who resigns or retires without giving us a 60-day notice or just doesn’t show up after newly being hired will automatically get a stopper in their file that says ‘Do not rehire.”

Matthews says the district is still sorting out how many no-shows were temporary — and how many were sudden resignations.