With members of Congress heading home until September without settling on a coronavirus relief package as schools around the country gear up to go back to school, Southwestern Central School Superintendent Maureen Donahue is nervous about how the delay about one federally funded mandate in particular.

“We typically get (Universal Pre-Kindergarten) funding by now,” Donahue said on Tuesday, two days before the Senate adjourned until September.

“We probably will not hear something until December now,” she said, noting that the funding is contingent on Congress. “As soon as they can get the federal stimulus bill figured out, which we all hoped by this time would be figured out, if they go home they won’t be back until September, we probably won’t hear about funding. We still don’t have the first or the second measurement cut of the state funding that is supposed to happen. We still have that cloud hanging over us.”

Donahue covered a range of topics related to the district’s plan to reopen during her report to the district’s board of education earlier this week. Much uncertainty remains even as the district plans to adopt a hybrid schedule, splitting families into “Red” and “Blue” cohorts.

“Day care is a big issue at the elementary level,” she said. “We also are obligated on the off-day to provide meals. We’re figuring that out, too — do we send them home with kids? Usually, when they did it this last time, they sent home breakfast and lunch together and both just needed to be warmed up. We have a meeting on that next week.”

“There is still no information or data on what they will allow us to do with our athletes or extra-curricular activities,” Donahue added. “Eventually, we’re going to start talking with them when they let us talk about them. I feel strongly that it’s an outlet for kids, it’s a positive thing for them and we can’t keep taking those things away.”

Questions related to reopening have not been limited to parents — students have had questions, too.

“We’re already getting questions from kids — if there will be homecoming or stuff like that,” she said. “It will look different, but we’re certainly going to have to try and do what’s best for the kids.”

During the report, James Butler, the board’s president, asked Donahue, “How long would it take for the district to switch to 100% remote learning if mandated?”

“About a day,” she responded. “When I say that, that’s all we’ll be given to switching back to home learning. If we have to go back to remote, we’ve made some changes within what our staff will be receiving and will then be moving to total Microsoft Teams as a platform, so it’s more concise.”

The district is already beginning to make necessary purchases should a switch back to total remote learning become mandated.

“We purchased a professional version of Remind, we’ve also purchased three more pieces of equipment for music that will help music students through this,” she said. “Our folks have been trained in Nearpod. We just purchased that. We added some things that the teachers are using that they will lean on if they go to remote.”

She added, “It’s going to be a little tighter, there’s going to be a lot more accountability in the next remote. We could realistically be pivoting to remote to back to hybrid and however, that will be.”

Southwestern and other districts are also taking inventory and finding that there are still some materials that will be needed for the coming school year and local businesses have helped to fill that void.

“Any time you can use a local supplier or work with local business, we really try and do that,” Donahue said. “It may be who has the best price, but if it’s local, that’s where the hat gets tipped. Our local businesses like D&S Glass, he’s been working with us on some of our dividers, they have been phenomenal about stepping up. We’re working with another local company on our signage and our six feet distance and arrows.”

The district is also helping other schools in the county fill that void, she added, noting the board’s decision to approve a donation of computers to Chautauqua Lake, Dunkirk and Clymer.

“When we discontinue computers, they go to recycling and we get pennies on the dollar for them,” she said. “Some of the districts are waiting on new laptops or whatever but they may not get them. They ordered them six months ago but they’re not going to be here for another six months, depending on what’s happening. Just like any of our other neighbors would help us, we’re trying to do that.”

Donahue and her colleagues from around the county also met this week with the Chautauqua County Health Department to clear up one item in particular: COVID-19 testing.

“Just so people understand: we are not doing COVID testing in schools,” she said. “That’s not going to happen, but we are very much apart of the informant on the contact tracing.”

“Here’s a hypothetical: if a child is in a classroom and ends up testing positive, we have that information of who is in the classroom and who has been in contact,” she added. “We know the schedules and we know the schedules of the people in the building. Our attendance is up to date, our schedules are up to date and who is where in what room — those types of things.”

She said the district will also be “as transparent as possible.”

“But, we have to be respectful of the confidentiality piece,” she said. “We may not be able to share specifics about certain things. If it’s a Saturday when test results come in, we will know it. There will be a point of contact to start with until we’re really comfortable with how we’re going to move things along. We’re still working through some of that. The meeting (Tuesday) was really helpful and the health department is working directly with our nurses on specific health-related initiatives. We’re really appreciative of their work.”