CPS Modifies Face-Covering Policy: Effective Friday, April 2

On Tuesday, March 30th, Governor Hutchinson lifted his statewide mask mandate requiring all Arkansans to wear masks in public.

Parents are passionate on both sides and this presents an extremely challenging and difficult situation for the district. However, taking both sides into consideration, the district has developed a plan that we believe is a good compromise that will not only ensure the safety of our students and staff but also provide flexibility.

With this in mind, the district has modified our face-covering policy per a directive from the Cabot School Board. Furthermore, the school board supports an administrative directive that allows the face-covering mandate to be reinstated if necessary.

*Effective Friday, April 2, students, staff, and visitors will have the option to choose whether or not to wear a face-covering on campus and or buses.

*To ensure that we remain vigilant in regards to social distancing, handwashing, and other COVID mitigation strategies, the superintendent, in consultation with the school board, has the authority to reinstate face-covering requirements for all students, staff, and visitors at designated locations. The decision to reinstate the face-covering requirement will be based on a combined increase in the positivity rate of students and staff at each school.

*Face-coverings will no longer be required at after-school outdoor or indoor district events. Social distancing WILL STILL be practiced.

*We respectfully request your cooperation while the district continues to restrict daily visitors on our campuses while we closely monitor the positivity rate at each school.

Please remember, while we have decided to relax our face-covering policy, it can and will be quickly reinstated if the positivity rate in a school increases. We want to stress the importance of regular handwashing and to practice social distancing when possible to ensure that it will not be necessary to reinstate the face-covering policy.

If a student or staff member feels more comfortable wearing a face-covering, we highly encourage them to continue wearing one. In fact, please be considerate of those that choose to wear one. Many plan to continue wearing a face-covering out of respect for those with compromised immune systems and we ask that you honor their decision.

We are so proud of our students and staff. Our buildings have remained open the entire year and we have maintained a safe teaching and learning environment. We want that to continue for the remaining eight weeks, but we need your help. We need the full cooperation and support of our Panther families so that we can finish out the school year #CabotPantherStrong.