Many Air Force Academy civilian instructors returned Wednesday during the ongoing government shutdown.

About 100 faculty members returned from furlough, representing most but not all of those placed on leave, according to a professor who spoke to The Gazette on the condition of anonymity. The return helped ease the workload of those who have kept classes running since last week, when the shutdown began.

Civilians typically teach the specialized and higher-level classes, and instructors who remained have been teaching a larger number of students at one time, around 50 students in a larger classroom, he said.

Instructors teaching foreign languages and English have been hurting the most, he said.

The academy said in a statement that a subset of its 178 civilian personnel returned under an exception approved by the Secretary of the Air Force in coordination with the Department of Defense.

The instructors will not be paid until the government shutdown ends, like other essential government employees.

In a written statement, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind thanked the Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and Air Force leadership for the exception, which will help cadets graduate on time.

“While the Academy remains committed to minimizing potential long-term disruptions, every member of Team USAFA is important to accomplishing our mission, and we look forward to the swift resolution of the shutdown and the passage of legislation that allows all civilian personnel to return to work,” Bauernfeind said in a written statement.

The academy posted on its website Oct. 1 that running classes without its civilians wouldn’t be sustainable beyond a week. The school expected military instructors would teach their own classes as well as those of the civilian faculty.

The school has also shut down a few services while employees are furloughed, such as public planetarium shows. The Visitor Center is open but not staffed.

The academy detailed impacted services at usafa.edu/government-shutdown-impact-information/