"We've never experienced anything like it."
That's the assessment of Whanganui City College principal Peter Kaua after three-quarters of his staff were struck down with food poisoning, forcing the school's closure today.
Twenty-one of the school's 30 teachers were hit with vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of Friday morning.
The staff member in charge of organising relief cover for City College teachers when they're sick received his first call from a teacher at 6.30am. He himself was already sick by this time.
Mr Kaua said by the time he arrived at school, less than two hours later, 19 staff members had called in sick and the decision was made to close the school for the day. All up, 21 staff members were sick.