Roadmap to Reopening: Dr. Thurman Discusses Face Coverings & CPDA

I'm Dr. Tony Thurman, proud superintendent of the Cabot School District.

I would first like to offer a word of encouragement to every parent out there, regardless of the school or district; things are going to work out okay.   

There is so much uncertainty about the coming school year and the pressure to make many of these decisions is overwhelming for everyone. You are not alone.  We want to do our best to make that decision making process as user-friendly as possible. I've received several messages from parents asking about face coverings and enrollment in the Cabot Panther Digital Academy.  

Let me first address face covering. School systems in Arkansas and across the nation are adopting face covering guidelines.  We are no different.  

Since the Governor's directive to require face coverings, we had many discussions on what this would look like in our school district. Please understand the challenge for schools when an arbitrary age is used as the benchmark because it doesn't work in a school setting.  Quite simply, if every student turned 10 years of age on exactly the same day, this would be feasible.  We have students turning 10 years old in our elementary and middle schools. 

We decided it would be best to work with our students in all grades on wearing a face covering in those situations when we cannot maintain an appropriate social distance.  Also, we have many adults that want to be at school with your children this fall and we want to do everything we can to keep them healthy and present. 

Are we going to expel kids for taking off a face covering?  No. 

Are we going to allow many opportunities during the day for the face coverings to be removed? Absolutely!

It is totally unreasonable to expect a face covering to be worn at all times. Though we want to mitigate as many risks as possible for our students and staff, we have to be reasonable in implementation at every level.  

We know that it is going to take time to teach our students about face coverings and it is going to take patience on the part of everyone.  I can assure you that our teachers are really good at what they do and they know how to be reasonable.  

I ask that you give us a chance on the face coverings and let's work together to take every precaution necessary to ensure the health and well-being of your students and our staff.  One thing I've learned over the years is that kids are resilient, and sometimes we underestimate what they are actually able to do with clear expectations, guidance, and encouragement. 

Now, here is more information on the Cabot Panther Digital Academy.  

If you decide that being at school is not what is best for your child, we will reopen the application for the Cabot Panther Digital Academy on Friday, July 24th and it will close on Sunday, July 26th.  We need a quick turnaround regarding additional applications since we are in the process of staffing the program at this time. If you have enrolled in CPDA, you'll soon be receiving a message from the district regarding virtual orientation sessions that will take place in the coming days.  

For those that have enrolled in the Cabot Panther Digital Academy and have now chosen to return to our traditional classroom setting, you can call our district office at 843-3363 to let us know that you would like a traditional class schedule and teacher assignment. Open House for our traditional, in-class students will be on Thursday, August 20th.  

For all students, we are still a month from school opening.  We will not run final student schedules for any programs until the week preceding our opening, since many things happen with staffing and enrollment during this time. 

Keep a close check on our website and social media pages for the most current information. As always, Go Panthers!