GOWANDA — Gowanda Central School will be in remote mode today. In a note to students and staff from the district on Tuesday, staff will report as normal but here are not enough drivers available to cover the bus runs.

In other news, business administrator Barb Smith gave an update on the state of the 2021-22 school budget, which still has some questions regarding just how much federal aid will be received.

Fortunately for the Gowanda Central School district, there was good news presented, in the form of increased foundation aid, which is something Smith says will greatly help the district in the long term. “We get a larger amount of aid because of our demographics and needs of students,” she said. “It had been frozen for two years, so growing it this year will help significantly.”

State aid runs became official last week. “Previously the school had looked at $1.7 million that the governor was taking from federal aid and putting into general aid,” Smith said. “There’s also the American Rescue Plan, which is now believed to be grants that will be used over the next several years, primarily for summer school and additional learning. Neither of these will appear in the budget numbers as of now.”

Despite remaining oddities and questions, Smith said that based on her experiences, Gowanda is in good shape comparatively.

“Compared to some other districts, we are in good shape,” Smith said. “I’ve been in some other districts and I’ve seen how it works. This district is solid. We have our eye on the long term and are always focused on the kids.”