DECATUR, Ala. — Sending the kids back to school can fill some parents and students with a plethora of emotions. However, Decatur City Schools Superintendent Michael Douglas has a word of advice for parents. "You know, I'm a parent. We've all been through that first day of school jitters, particularly if you've got a preschool or kindergarten kid. Come in the school, meet your teacher, um, you know, we're going to make you see what we do, but we want you to be involved. and if you have any apprehension about, you know, your teachers classroom or the school, they're going to, I would just say reach out to the principal."
So what else should parents and students know about this school year? "Well, first and foremost, we start August 3rd. We're excited about everybody coming back. The biggest thing that I've been stressing to parents is attendance. More often than not, when kids struggle, it's because they're not coming to school. I think COVID, we started some bad habits where we just weren't coming to school as much. So if you want your kid to be successful, I would just say, make sure your kids in school, we're going to do a great job educating them," he explained.
There are also continuous measures in place to further ensure students safety this school year. "We put in I like to call it the Disney system. We've got a detection system. All of our kids will walk through that at our high schools and middle schools, and it'll basically just ensure that, you know, the stuff we don't want coming in the school, can't come in the school. Sometimes our kids make poor choices. we put in vape sensors in our bathrooms. [It's in the ceiling, so] if they take a puff, it goes off and we're notified." And Decatur City Schools Assistant Transportation Jamie Penley added that safety isn't just for inside the school walls,"...with safety it's obviously an intentional focus."