Maureen Donahue, Southwestern Central School superintendent, is pictured speaking during a recent Board of Education meeting. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

The Southwestern Central School District may soon see more of a return to normal after the upcoming spring break.

Superintendent Maureen Donahue updated school board members this week on operations in the district and moving forward from the pandemic.

“It’s time to start getting some of our normal procedures back in place,” Donahue said. “We’re actually preparing a letter that goes home next week. When we come back after beak, we want to resume as many normal processes, procedures and activities as possible.”

Donahue said one of the things the school district is looking on opening up is drinking fountains, which were previously closed due to the pandemic. When it comes to COVID-19 cases, Donahue said on Tuesday, no COVID-19 cases were reported at the district, while the day before, there was only one case reported. Donahue said testing kits are available for parents and families in the district, as identifying causes is a priority.

While the district had been limiting access to buildings throughout the pandemic, Donahue said there could be a change in that policy as well. At this time, she said there are parents whose children started school in kindergarten that are now in second grade who have not been in the school building.

“There are other events where we’re going to have parents in the building, we’re going to have the community back in the building,” Donahue said. “I just got a request from one of our outside groups that uses our auditorium — I don’t see any reason why we have to say anymore to that.”

Donahue said another issue to be tackled is the fact that students need to be at school on time.

“This is when school starts — we need you here on time and we need you giving 100%,” she said. “A lot of us have said, ‘Oh, you know, COVID.’ We’re done; I think there’s always going to be some level of it that we have to be responsive to, but we need to get back to a lot of our normal procedures. We’ve really had the buildings closed down, but I’m just letting you know that push is going to come.”

A district parent, Carol Wynham, addressed members of the school board regarding the quarantine of her son. Wynham said she had to pick up her son from school after he was told he was a contact of someone who had COVID.

“When a school says that they care about emotional and social wellbeing, I don’t think they thought about the embarrassment of it,” Wynham said. “You knew on Saturday that someone had COVID, and to let him come into school on a Tuesday to call his mommy to come pick him up because he’s healthy — I know that you’re following rules, I keep hearing that — but I still say if we’re going to say that we really care, then what’s the solution going forward? I do not take words like discrimination and segregation lightly — I know that they’re harsh words, but that’s exactly the result when I had to come pick up my son. His rights were literally trampled on.”

In other news, Donahue has been selected to receive the New York State Council of School Superintendents Appreciation Award for 2022. The award is used to recognize a superintendent whose efforts align with the council’s initiatives. Donahue will receive the award at the council’s 2022 Winter Institute on March 6, 2022.

“Thank you to my colleagues and (the New York State Council of School Superintendents) for your dedication to kids across New York,” Donahue said regarding the award. “It has definitely been a labor of love.”