[Factc] COVID-19 Update for May 22, 2020

Tue May 26 09:27:13 PDT 2020

FYI

Bill Moore, Ph.D. (he/his)
Director, K-12 Partnerships & Bridge to College
State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
360-704-4346 (office)            360-528-1809 (cell)

COVID-19 REMOTE LEARNING RESOURCES – AVAILABLE HERE<https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/programs-services/student-success-center/remote-learning-resources.aspx>
________________________________
These updates are sent on Wednesdays and Fridays, to better align with the WACTC calls on those days.  If you have questions, however, please feel free to call John Boesenberg or any other State Board staff member who could best respond.

The information listed below has come-up since the last message was sent.  It will be shared with the WACTC Commissions.  Additional information/details may be accessed through our Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PnHhItWpvNhUhhxrCq5LSzxjenmVS5nw

·       General Information

  *   On May 21st,  Department of Education updated<https://associationofcommunitycollegetrustees.cmail20.com/t/j-l-qtkitik-kjlklrur-r/> their guidance page for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) established by the CARES Act. ED stated that their guidance for the HEERF is not enforceable, excepting what in statute. They focused on the language regarding Title IV eligibility for student emergency grants. ED stated that it will not initiate any enforcement action based solely on their guidance because it lacks the force and effect of law. However, they stated that the underlying statutory terms in the CARES Act are legally binding, as are any other applicable statutory terms, such as the restriction in 8 U.S.C. § 1611 on eligibility for Federal public benefits including such grants. This statement appears to restrict DACA and undocumented students from accessing emergency grants.
     *   ED also stated that Title IV eligibility guidance is specific to the distribution of emergency financial aid grants and does not apply to the use of HEERF institutional allocations to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.

  *   The Higher Education Leaders Workgroup (private and public universities, private career schools, CTC, labor representatives) is working with the Governor’s Office on fall re-opening of college campuses.  A subgroup of the has developed a matrix that aligns general higher education activities with the Governor’s 4 phase reopening plan.  The draft matrix and notes from these conversations have been shared with college presidents and chancellors and, late Friday afternoon, was approved by the Department of Health.
     *   L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is working on Phase 3 and 4 safety protocols.  At this time there appears to be an emphasis on the importance of wearing face masks and a lessening of stressing sanitizing surfaces.  This is consistent with information released by the CDC earlier this week.
     *   There is an understandable emphasis on instruction and classroom/lab safety.  However, it is important to speak to other services provided to students by colleges, especially those provided by the various offices under the Student Services umbrella.  Much of this work will occur consistent with the “phase” guidance addressing limitations on group size and social distancing.
        *   As we move through the phases, guidance may change from PPE and social distancing to PPE or social distancing.  Stay tuned.

  *   An additional effort to provide clarity/advice on fall reopening is occurring through Challenge Seattle<https://www.challengeseattle.com/>, who recently contracted with the Boston Consulting group to develop advice and guidance for Washington’s higher education institutions.

§  At the request of Challenge Seattle and the Washington Roundtable, Boston Consulting Group has already provided a report and two-tiered checklists related to business planning for a safe re-opening to a “new normal” while we await a vaccine:
Planning for a "new normal": summary & checklists (updated April 27)<https://21652974-25d8-4ff1-bbc0-8687c8ec1f64.filesusr.com/ugd/e29733_d8ffb73aa9bb4977a67c7d3b42c2ad81.pdf>
Planning for a "new normal": full report (updated April 27)<https://21652974-25d8-4ff1-bbc0-8687c8ec1f64.filesusr.com/ugd/e29733_e80eaad2ed8d4a9e8652254f99bb0a24.pdf>

They also worked with Boston Consulting Group to publish a study related to the economic impacts of the pandemic, both regionally and statewide:
Regional & statewide economic impacts (updated May 6)<https://21652974-25d8-4ff1-bbc0-8687c8ec1f64.filesusr.com/ugd/e29733_8bb7fa1e7fb04c78a6d9d90dc5cf484a.pdf>

  *   The Secretary of State issued guidance on retention of COVID-19 screening records earlier this week.  A brief summary was included in the May 20th edition of the Update and we have just posted it on our Google Drive.  (Essentially, screening records are being treated like building entry and exit logs which must be retained for at  6 years.) Update.  https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/archives/recordsmanagement/state-government-general-records-retention-schedule-v.6.0-(june-2016).pdf

·      Employment

  *   Total claims for unemployment benefits increased almost 28 percent from the previous week. During the week of May 10-16, there were 138,733 initial regular unemployment claims (an increase of 29,308 from the previous week) and 1,670,580 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (an increase of 369,016 from the previous week) filed by Washingtonians. The Employment Security Department believes some portion of the high numbers from the past week are due to an increase in fraudulent claims and is looking into how best to correct for that in future reporting cycles.

ESD paid out over $1.01 billion (an increase of almost $256 million from the previous week) for 565,764 individual claims (an increase of 28,450 from the previous week).

Unemployment claim type

Week of

May 10-16

Week of

May 3-9

Week of

April 26-May 2

Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) initial claims

138,733

109,425

100,762

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims

61,325

55,911

59,234

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims

59,630

47,626

40,267

Continued/ongoing weekly claims

1,410,892

1,088,602

885,768

Total claims

1,670,580

1,301,564

1,086,031

Since the week ending March 7 when COVID-19 job losses began:

  *   A total of 1,937,576 initial claims have been filed during the pandemic (1,222,861 regular unemployment insurance, 381,904 PUA and 332,811 PEUC)
  *   A total of 1,106,684 distinct individuals have filed for unemployment benefits
  *   ESD has paid out nearly $3.8 billion in benefits to Washingtonians
  *   768,217 individuals who have filed an initial claim have been paid

“Below is an eleven-week summary of statewide initial claims filed since the start of the COVID-19 crisis:
[11 week initial regular clais line chart May 10-16][Total claims line chart May 10-16]

·       Instruction/Student Services
o   The final joint statement from OSPI, COP, SBCTC and WSAC regarding grading policies and concurrent enrollment programs was posted in the Google Drive in the Dual Credit folder (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1flP6TZ55-IQ3Lc547Jik53dh9txlsTYa) under Education Guidance and Resources. The document will also be in linked to the COP COVID-19 website: https://councilofpresidents.org/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-information-resources/

·       Issues being worked
o   State Board and other higher education sectors have discussed the possibility of an Governor’s executive order that would provide immunity from lawsuits if someone contracts COVID while attending classes.  At this time, it appears that this request will not move forward.

o   Summer Running Start – Essentially, there is agreement on policies however, there continues to be discussion on funding.  State Board staff continues to work with OSPI and the Governor’s Office to identify a funding source.

o   Re-opening of Dental Hygiene programs and clinics.  May 18th is the date identified by the Governor as the date dental offices may re-open.  It is unclear if that date is still his intended re-opening date and how that affects dental programs and clinics operated by our colleges.

·      Upcoming Event Cancellations/Changes (Newly Added/Updates in RED)

     *   Workforce Connections Forum has been rescheduled to August 25-26th.
     *   Rendezvous 2020, July 27-29 – Cancelled
     *   The WACTC Summer retreat will be entirely held through Zoom on July 27-28.

John Boesenberg, Deputy Executive Director
Business Operations
360-704-4303; jboesenberg at sbctc.edu<mailto:jboesenberg at sbctc.edu>

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