Newsletter 2021 Issue 2

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Like nearly all employers in Virginia, public school divisions must provide unemployment insurance for their employees. The Unemployment Compensation Act of Virginia (the Act) provides two ways to pay for this important and mandatory employee benefit. One method is payment by the school division on a dollar for dollar basis for each qualifying claim. The second is payment of a quarterly tax based on the size of the division’s payroll and the number and duration of qualifying claims. With either method, the division reimburses the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) which is the State agency that makes the payment to the unemployed worker.

The amount and duration of unemployment benefits are set by the Act. A claimant must first qualify, meaning he or she is unemployed for qualifying reasons, as defined in the Act, and remains eligible from week to week for the duration of a claim. The amount of weekly benefits and the duration of the claim vary based on the amount of wages or salary the claimant received during a one year base period prior to becoming unemployed. Absent the present federal enhancement, the potential duration of a claim varies from 13 to 26 weeks. The weekly benefit amount varies from $60 to $378 per week. Under the CARES Act and its successor, the federal government has paid for longer durations and additional weekly amounts. Congress is debating further extensions at this time.

It is no secret that the VEC was swamped with new claims in March of 2020 and continuing thereafter. More than 400,000 claims were received in the spring and summer which exceeded the collective number of claims for the preceding three calendar years. Despite adding staff the VEC was unable to match the demand and thus to meet the expectations of anxious claimants or concerned employers. Understanding that under the Cares Act anyone qualifying for unemployment in any amount received an extra $600 per week from April 1 through July 25 of last year, many employees were able to receive, quite lawfully, more by being unemployed than by working. With the same understanding many employers relied upon unemployment to cushion layoffs. With schools closed, bus drivers, school nutrition workers, custodians and some physical plant workers (Classified Employees) were laid off or had substantially reduced hours.

While full-time teachers and administrators remained employed and struggled with the transition to virtual learning, some special unemployment problems confronted and may still apply to school divisions with respect to Classified Employees and others such as non-contract substitutes. Importantly, employees who are furloughed, with or without a firm return to work date, or provided reduced hours are regarded as unemployed under the Act and eligible for benefits. Accordingly, a person might be regarded as “underemployed” a helpful and descriptive term, although it is not used in the Act or resulting VEC decisions.

The financial effect of underemployment on a Virginia school division can be impactful. For example a 50% reduction in hours for a full time employee earning $15 per hour would reduce that employee’s pay from $600 per week to $300. The employee would qualify for unemployment benefits, but the reduced weekly wages would be deducted from his or her weekly benefit amount. If this employee qualified for the full $378 of unemployment per week without a federal enhancement, the amount paid would be reduced by the $300 in wages resulting in a taxable benefit payment of $78 for up to 26 weeks. Significantly this employee would also be eligible for any federal amount then available.

Another, even more troublesome effect of Covid has been the exponential increase in fraudulent unemployment claims made against school divisions all across the Commonwealth. With the $600 federal enhancement, weekly payments of $978 became common. Literally thousands of fraudulent claims have been filed by bad actors who need only access to an individual’s social security number and where that person works. With online filing, the claims process can be completed with no physical appearance at the VEC. To make matters worse, the VEC has paid claims filed against school divisions without its normal adjudication process, resulting in many fraudulent claims being paid without the division’s knowledge until a quarterly list of payments is mailed by VEC seeking payment. This has resulted in a complex process of notifying the VEC of fraudulent claims, a process with which VEC is still struggling.

Since March of last year, the volume and management of unemployment claims has been a difficult matter for school administrators. In some cases, the expense of these claims must also be factored into already thinly stretched budgets. Also, discovering and unraveling fraudulent claims has been a problem added to a problem. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for unemployment benefits ills, and the symptoms of this illness will likely last quite a while longer.

For additional information on this opportunity or to schedule a session, contact Samantha Bosserman, senior director of communications and board development at samantha@vsba.org.

Attendees will hear from leading professionals with specific knowledge surrounding the topic of collective bargaining in the commonwealth and beyond. Professionals will share important tips and tricks relating to and leading to successful collective bargaining agreements and tactics. Attendees will learn the details within the new Collective Bargaining legislation focusing on what school board members will need to know before the May 1st deadline and what to expect after that deadline passes. Forecast 5 will discuss how the use of benchmark data to properly plan will lead to greater success throughout the collective bargaining process and how a division’s position and visual analytics can assist during negotiations.

For more information and to view the brochure click here.

If you are working with a local business that deserves recognition, your division can add up to three names to the VSBA Business Honor Roll by passing a resolution and submitting the online nomination form.

We appreciate your participation in this effort. The deadline to submit for 2021 is April 7, 2021.  Please contact Jessica Blythe at jessica@vsba.org or 800-466-8722 if you have any questions

There’s a piece of yellow butcher paper hung up on the blue safety mat on the gym wall. It reads “show us your wildcat pride” and is adorned with blue construction paper paw prints. Each paw print reads a student’s name. These students have successfully raised their grades up in their classes. Among the paw prints, you’ll see Amiyah’s name.

Amiyah Yates is a 6th-grade student at Carter G. Woodson Middle School (CGW). She has been with the 6th-grade Learning Pod from the beginning since it was a pilot program, and she has benefited greatly from being a part of the program. “Coming to the Pod has changed my success because I finished all of my work in history and most of it in science, so my grades got a lot better than they were,” she said.

Like Amiyah, all students who are in a Learning Pod at CGW were not thriving in virtual learning and were at risk of failing their current grade level, either due to expressly failing grades or a significant number of incomplete assignments. Mrs. Tiffany Bailey, Interventionist at CGW said, “It was flooring to see the number of students that had an F or an Incomplete after Q1 report cards,” but, unfortunately, not every student in this position would be able to make it into a Learning Pod of 30 students maximum.

So administration at CGW began by employing interventions to help turn some students’ performance in virtual schooling around. These included building in OTRs or opportunities to respond within virtual classrooms as well as as “cold-calling,” or calling on students who do not have their hands raised. Faculty participated in training on how to keep students engaged. Most importantly, administrators went on home visits to at-risk students, many of which were paid by CGW’s Principal, Mr. Shannon Royster.

“I just felt that during this pandemic, my new job as a virtual principal was to go impact and reach one at a time, knock on every door, the ones that weren’t being super successful, and to offer my services and support and try to meet the families there. Let the kids know that ‘we’re here for you,’” said Mr. Royster.

With these interventions instituted, the conversation regarding student selection and enrollment in Learning Pods became more detailed. Which students were failing only one subject as opposed to multiple? Which students were showing success after some of the earlier interventions, and which ones were still struggling? Eventually, and not without deep reflection, the selections were made and the 6th-grade Learning Pod pilot was underway. After the trial-run, the success noted by faculty, staff, and students alike was so overwhelming that 7th-grade and 8th-grade Learning Pods were okayed. Learning Pods are now expanding into the other schools that make up HCPS, too.

What does a day in the life of a Learning Pod at CGW look like? It starts with a 30 minute Morning Meeting which is based in social/emotional learning. For instance, as it’s January and a new year, students have been working on setting goals. In October, for Bullying Awareness Month, they discussed things like kindness. From there, students get going on their scheduled, virtual classes. There are two adults in the room at this time who are able to help students who need it at that moment. Once classes are finished, it’s time for Afternoon Check-in. This is a 10-15 minute meeting before lunch and it takes on many forms, though its main purpose is to make sure the students are doing alright and are getting a minute to take a break and do something fun.

Next, students eat lunch, and then they dive into the last part of the day. After lunch, students begin solo work. Each student has a personalized list of work they are missing in their classes, and they are to choose four assignments to work on for the afternoon. Students also have a checklist to help keep them organized and to help them with self-advocacy and executive functioning. As they work on their chosen, past-due assignments they use the checklist to indicate things like if they are feeling lost or like they’re struggling in a class, and if they need a teacher’s help. This checklist is collected at the end of the day, and the following day, someone follows up with students to make sure they’re all set and have gotten what they need. Finally, students are dismissed and repeat the routine each new school day.

What seems like such a simple experience has had a profound impact on the students who attend a CGW Learning Pod. Students like Amiyah have been able to significantly improve their grades, as well as their overall skill set as a student.

Jeremy Perez Jr., another 6th-grade student who has been with the Learning Pods since their inception, noted that “Learning Pod has helped me with my organization and in my confidence in asking for help from a teacher.” But Jeremy’s story also points to another significant reason why these Pods are so imperative.

“It’s good because I’ve got teachers to help me if I need help. It’s better, more focused, and I’m not home alone,” says Jeremy. “My dad has to work, and my grandma cleans other people’s houses during the day.”

Truly, Learning Pods at CGW are changing the lives of the students who participate in them. Like Amiyah says, “It’s important because of my education and I feel like if I don’t come here I wouldn’t get my education. This is the only way I can thrive and get through school”, meaning her educational journey from middle school, to high school, and beyond. The success of Learning Pods at CGW only points to growing success in all of HCPS as these pods extend to other schools in our district.

Thank you for your support of the VSBA and Virginia's public education system.

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