In the Rockwood School District, the name Dr. Curtis Cain is known by most. The man that does it all. From monitoring student success, hiring staff, doing what is believed to be best for the students, their education and working to better the Rockwood School District as a whole.
One of the tasks Dr. Cain has the authority of is deciding if schools should be cancelled for inclement weather. One week after Rockwoods winter break, there were important decisions to make when it came to snow days.
Snow days Monday through Wednesday, yet allowed students to return to school on that Thursday, stirred controversy amongst students.
To announce the confirmation of school on Thursday Jan. 9, a video of Dr. Cain was posted on the Rockwood School District Instagram account, detailing the return of students. Within that post were many comments made by students, parents and teachers varying from positivity to complaints.
Lauren Blevins, 10, left a comment voicing her opinion on the school districts return to school, following the three snow days the school had prior that week.
“I just thought it was so dangerous. We shouldn’t be here when students are actively not able to get here without for sure knowing that they are going to be safe on the roads. I don’t live in a neighborhood, so our roads were not fully plowed and everything. So they were pretty icy and I just didn’t think that was safe,” Blevins said.
The video informing the school district that school would be resumed on Thursday reassured the students that returning to school was safe. Students were warned to be careful in the parking lot, and to be driven to school if they didn’t feel like driving to school themselves was a safe decision. The video, was filmed on an icy, snow-covered parking lot.
“How are you able to notice that students can see when you’re filming that literally in the background there’s just a sheet of ice,” Blevins said. “I just didn’t think that was smart to do.”
Although there were varying opinions on going to school that day, the return to school was successful for the most part. Parking was an issue for some as ice and snow covered some parking spots.
Class of 2026 Principal Dr. David Arledge thought students did a great job parking and making it safely to school.
“When you pulled in, everyone took their time,” Arledge said. “You didn’t have to park exactly where your spot was, you parked wherever. And it looked great. You guys did amazing.”
Throughout the snow day hype, an account by the name of @curtiscainworshipper premiered on Instagram Jan. 9.
The account praised Dr. Cain and begged him for another snow day. The account showcased a video of Dr. Cain with the song “All I Want For Christmas is You”, by Mariah Carey. The caption of the video reads, “Do what you know is best king.” referring to Dr. Cain allowing another snow day.
“The one post I saw I thought it was funny, you know, I thought it was fun. I didn’t think it was harmful” Arledge said.
“You know, like way to go Dr. Cain getting us off school, I thought it was fun.”
