Friday, April 17th, Coronavirus / COVID-19 Update

Friday, April 17, 2020 – Update

Greetings USEP Members,

We hope you are all healthy and doing well. Hopefully by now most of the issues regarding distance learning have been addressed or are being investigated by staff. Things will get better as we all become more comfortable with the platform and curriculum we have “adopted”.

With all the talk about what will happen next in the process of returning to school later this year, FEA President Fed Ingram has written a letter to the Governor requesting that we stay away for the remainder of this year. I would have to believe that most people would feel this way just for the safety concerns. It wouldn’t be worth the risk to put all students back into an unsure environment just for the sake of coming back. It is still a hardship on parents, guardians and grandparents who are balancing work from home with online schooling but is still probably the best choice. Many educators have stated they wouldn’t risk going back if we returned this year anyway. You can see the letter to Gov. DeSantis here and sign a petition in support of this idea. Go to this link for the petition: https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-governor-desantis-to-keep-schools-closed

The federal stimulus checks have begun being deposited into bank accounts for those who had their banking information on record with the IRS and meet eligibility requirements. The expectation is everyone with direct deposit will have those funds ($1,200 per adult and an additional $500 per child 16 and younger) by April 15, with checks being sent to those without direct deposit shortly after that. For more information or to add bank information, visit www.irs.gov.

We got word today from District staff that the intent is to pay all emergency pay earned for work done either during Spring Break or the week of March 23-27, 2020, in a separate check to be deposited on April 30, 2020. The District is currently verifying rosters and hours to make this happen.

Finally, if you are a client of Liberty Mutual Insurance, here is some good news for you. -Liberty Mutual has proactively set up a Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund with a 15% refund of two months of a personal auto insurance customers annual premium as of April 7, 2020 pending regulatory approval.  In addition, Liberty Mutual (1) has automatically stopped late fees charged, (2) is extending payment dates if needed, and (3) has temporarily paused personal auto and home coverage cancellations due to non-payment from March 23 through at least May 22, 2020, or later. Finally Liberty Mutual has expanded all personal auto policies to cover customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine, medical supplies, or medical equipment for a commercial purpose. This change does not apply to drivers completing deliveries for a transportation network company or online only delivery platform.

Have an enjoyable, relaxing and SAFE weekend!

Don Peace, United School Employees of Pasco