Will Madison public schools be closed for a second day in a row Thursday because of a coordinated teacher sickout?

Madison school officials didn't know as of a 5:30 p.m. press conference with Superintendent Dan Nerad.

"It's my hope that it would not," Nerad said. "It's my expectation that our staff return to work."

Nerad did not have updated numbers as to how many teachers did not report to work as required Wednesday. He said 1,100 teachers, about 40 percent of the district, had called in sick Tuesday night by 11 p.m., when the district decided to cancel school for Wednesday. The district planned to take the same "very deliberate" approach with monitoring its automated call-in system Wednesday night.

Nerad called the sickout a "job action" and said district legal staff were reviewing whether it constituted a violation of their work contract. He reiterated that teachers who called in sick but can't prove a medical reason could face docked pay or other consequences.

"We understand they're upset," Nerad said. "I've taken a position that there's a need to have state leaders return to the bargaining table with people that are disaffected by these proposals."