State Officials Talk Schools Reopening, Help For Parents
July 23, 2020 at 12:13 a.m.
State Officials Talk Schools Reopening, Help For Parents
By Amanda [email protected]
Schools in Kosciusko County have rolled out reopening plans that include guidance from the state about separating students into pods and having all of the children in those pods quarantine at home for two weeks if one of the children becomes COVID-19 symptomatic. A negative COVID test would be required after the quarantine period to come back to class.
During Gov. Eric Holcomb’s COVID-19 press conference Wednesday, Dr. Jennifer Sullivan, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said there are many ongoing challenges when it comes to navigating forward throughout the pandemic, and continuing to provide education to the state’s more than 1 million students is one of them.
“Most have been without the structure of a classroom since mid-March, and while some students have responded well to eLearning instruction, others are struggling,” she said. “The idea of returning to the classroom is daunting for some, while others are eager to return.”
It was announced Wednesday that masks will be required at schools for students in grades 3-12 at all times unless the classroom can be situated where students are 6 feet apart. Students also will not be required to wear masks during recess, where social distancing can be enforced or when deemed necessary by a teacher for instructional purposes. All students riding a school bus will have to have a face covering.
Sullivan said the American Academy of Pediatrics says it is safe for children as young as 2 to wear face coverings, and that as children get older they are more likely to spread the virus. The threshold to close a pod of students is one case, she said, and the threshold to close the school is another.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer of the Indiana State Department of Health, said an entire classroom may need to quarantine if they can’t socially distance, specifically grades pre-K through second grade, depending on the situation.
So, what does this mean for working parents, who can expect a phone call at any given time that their child must be picked up from school immediately and quarantine for two weeks because a child in their pod showed symptoms of COVID?
First, the parent would need to get their child tested and decide if that child has been exposed closely with any other siblings or family members in the home. The parent would be responsible for keeping the school informed on results and other pertinent information.
Next, the parent will have to speak with their employer about what’s going on, because now they will have to stay home for two weeks to care for their child while the child is in a required quarantine time.
There are two options available for employers and employees to help workers keep their jobs – and their pay – when these situations arise.
The first, is the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.
Under that act, employers with fewer than 500 employees (and all public employers) must provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for employees who have worked for them for at least 30 days and who are unable to work or telework to care for their children if the children’s school or daycare is closed or the childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19.
There are exceptions to that, and those are for employers with less than 50 employees; and certain health care providers or emergency responders may also not qualify.
However, for those that do qualify, the first 10 days of Emergency FMLA may be unpaid. The employee can take any sick, vacation or other leave to cover some or all of this 10-day period. The employee may also be able to use paid leave for the first 10 days if they qualify for it under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act went into effect April 1 and remains in effect until Dec. 31 this year.
Under those protections, employees may take time off if they are subject to quarantine or an isolation order related to COVID-19; are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are seeking a diagnosis; are caring for any individual (not just family members) who are subject to a quarantining or isolation order; or caring for a child if the child’s school or daycare is closed or unavailable due to the health emergency.
Employers with less than 500 employees must provide full-time employees with 80 hours of paid sick leave at their regular rate, regardless as to how long they have been employed. There are exceptions for health care providers and emergency responders.
If the employee is caring for another person or child, they only are entitled to two-thirds of their regular pay.
Paid sick leave wages are limited to $511 per day up to $5,110 total per employee if they are sick, or $200 per day up to $2,000 total per employee if they are caring for another person or child. Emergency paid sick leave does not carry over to the next year. Part-time employees also can receive paid sick leave under the same circumstances based on their average hours worked for the last six months, or their average hours worked for the last two weeks, if they have been employed for less than six months.
Employees generally cannot take emergency paid sick leave intermittently; you must take sick leave for most qualifying reasons in full-day increments. However, if an employee is taking emergency paid sick leave to care for a child whose school or day care is closed, the employee can take it intermittently. For example, an employee could take two days per week off and work the other three days according to their regular schedule.
Full-time employees of employers with 500 or fewer employees can request that they receive 80 hours of emergency paid sick leave instead of the initial 10 days of unpaid emergency FMLA leave.
When asked Wednesday by the Times-Union, Sullivan said those job protections are in place and that the state is working to strengthen them.
“As a parent myself, it is stressful for the potential of several interruptions, and honestly, the work we do now is to make sure we can have as few cases in school as possible,” she said.
Sullivan also reminds Hoosiers who are using programs such as Medicaid health insurance, SNAP food benefits and other eligibility programs, that those programs will not go away due to people missing work or having changes in their income.
“So that’s one less thing that Hoosier families have to worry about,” she said.
Schools in Kosciusko County have rolled out reopening plans that include guidance from the state about separating students into pods and having all of the children in those pods quarantine at home for two weeks if one of the children becomes COVID-19 symptomatic. A negative COVID test would be required after the quarantine period to come back to class.
During Gov. Eric Holcomb’s COVID-19 press conference Wednesday, Dr. Jennifer Sullivan, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said there are many ongoing challenges when it comes to navigating forward throughout the pandemic, and continuing to provide education to the state’s more than 1 million students is one of them.
“Most have been without the structure of a classroom since mid-March, and while some students have responded well to eLearning instruction, others are struggling,” she said. “The idea of returning to the classroom is daunting for some, while others are eager to return.”
It was announced Wednesday that masks will be required at schools for students in grades 3-12 at all times unless the classroom can be situated where students are 6 feet apart. Students also will not be required to wear masks during recess, where social distancing can be enforced or when deemed necessary by a teacher for instructional purposes. All students riding a school bus will have to have a face covering.
Sullivan said the American Academy of Pediatrics says it is safe for children as young as 2 to wear face coverings, and that as children get older they are more likely to spread the virus. The threshold to close a pod of students is one case, she said, and the threshold to close the school is another.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer of the Indiana State Department of Health, said an entire classroom may need to quarantine if they can’t socially distance, specifically grades pre-K through second grade, depending on the situation.
So, what does this mean for working parents, who can expect a phone call at any given time that their child must be picked up from school immediately and quarantine for two weeks because a child in their pod showed symptoms of COVID?
First, the parent would need to get their child tested and decide if that child has been exposed closely with any other siblings or family members in the home. The parent would be responsible for keeping the school informed on results and other pertinent information.
Next, the parent will have to speak with their employer about what’s going on, because now they will have to stay home for two weeks to care for their child while the child is in a required quarantine time.
There are two options available for employers and employees to help workers keep their jobs – and their pay – when these situations arise.
The first, is the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.
Under that act, employers with fewer than 500 employees (and all public employers) must provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for employees who have worked for them for at least 30 days and who are unable to work or telework to care for their children if the children’s school or daycare is closed or the childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19.
There are exceptions to that, and those are for employers with less than 50 employees; and certain health care providers or emergency responders may also not qualify.
However, for those that do qualify, the first 10 days of Emergency FMLA may be unpaid. The employee can take any sick, vacation or other leave to cover some or all of this 10-day period. The employee may also be able to use paid leave for the first 10 days if they qualify for it under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act went into effect April 1 and remains in effect until Dec. 31 this year.
Under those protections, employees may take time off if they are subject to quarantine or an isolation order related to COVID-19; are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are seeking a diagnosis; are caring for any individual (not just family members) who are subject to a quarantining or isolation order; or caring for a child if the child’s school or daycare is closed or unavailable due to the health emergency.
Employers with less than 500 employees must provide full-time employees with 80 hours of paid sick leave at their regular rate, regardless as to how long they have been employed. There are exceptions for health care providers and emergency responders.
If the employee is caring for another person or child, they only are entitled to two-thirds of their regular pay.
Paid sick leave wages are limited to $511 per day up to $5,110 total per employee if they are sick, or $200 per day up to $2,000 total per employee if they are caring for another person or child. Emergency paid sick leave does not carry over to the next year. Part-time employees also can receive paid sick leave under the same circumstances based on their average hours worked for the last six months, or their average hours worked for the last two weeks, if they have been employed for less than six months.
Employees generally cannot take emergency paid sick leave intermittently; you must take sick leave for most qualifying reasons in full-day increments. However, if an employee is taking emergency paid sick leave to care for a child whose school or day care is closed, the employee can take it intermittently. For example, an employee could take two days per week off and work the other three days according to their regular schedule.
Full-time employees of employers with 500 or fewer employees can request that they receive 80 hours of emergency paid sick leave instead of the initial 10 days of unpaid emergency FMLA leave.
When asked Wednesday by the Times-Union, Sullivan said those job protections are in place and that the state is working to strengthen them.
“As a parent myself, it is stressful for the potential of several interruptions, and honestly, the work we do now is to make sure we can have as few cases in school as possible,” she said.
Sullivan also reminds Hoosiers who are using programs such as Medicaid health insurance, SNAP food benefits and other eligibility programs, that those programs will not go away due to people missing work or having changes in their income.
“So that’s one less thing that Hoosier families have to worry about,” she said.
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