The Advocate: April 2020

The Advocate
April 2020
COVID-19 Update: What You Need To Know

Noelle Ellerson Ng
Associate Executive Director, Advocacy & Governance
AASA, The School Superintendents Association

What a difference one month can make. As the nation’s public schools face the never-before-seen reality of nearly nation-wide state-wide school closures, school system leaders are navigating the new norm of implementing a fully remote approach learning and all that entails, from continuing food service and figuring out how to comply with IDEA to planning for likely economic downturn and how to address payroll. This month’s The Advocate is a quick breather, a top level overview of how we got here, resources available, and what comes next.

HOW WE GOT HERE

• 12/1 through 1/11: First case and death reported in Wuhan, China.
• 1/12 through 1/31:  Cases spread across Asia ahead of/during the Lunar New Year.; US and South Korea confirm first cases; World Health Organization (WHO) declares COVID-19 an international public health emergency
• 2/1 through 2/19: Virus spreads across Asia and Europe; US cases begin to grow.
• 2/21 through 2/29:  Italy confirms first few cases and infection count surges to 655 within a week; US reports first death; WHO raises threat of COVID-19 global outbreak to ‘Very High’
• 3/1 through 3/6: US cases continue to grow; Congress passes 1^st emergency COVID supplemental  
• 3/7 through 3/14: WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic; Trump declares a national emergency; Congress passes 2^nd emergency COVID supplemental
• 3/15 through 3/27: Wuhan, China reports no new cases (hits peak) as virus makes its way across Africa. Countries begin announcing widespread closure of businesses, schools, etc. and cancelling/postponing large events.  Congress passes 3^rd emergency COVID supplemental (CARES Act)
• Source: https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/coronavirus-a-timeline-of-how-the-deadly-outbreak-evolved/

FEDERAL RESPONSE TO COVID

• To date, Congress has moved three emergency supplementals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
• HR 6074, Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act
• HR 6201, Families First Coronavirus Response Act
• S 3548 CARES Act
• The Families First Act included provisions related to education (but not any significant education-specific funding).
• Nutrition Provisions: flexibilities related to school meal programs for serving in non-congregate settings, to allow child and adult care centers to serve food to go, allow the Secretary of Agriculture to waive meal pattern requirements in child nutrition programs if there is a disruption in food supply, and to allow a meal to be picked up without a child present, among others.
• Health Provisions: Provides free COVID-19 testing to all Americans, regardless of insurance; clarifies that Medicaid and CHIP, which cover over 45 million children between the two programs, will cover diagnostic testing, including the cost of a provider visit to receive testing, with no cost to the patient; Increases states' federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for public health programs like Medicaid and CHIP for the duration of the emergency; and increases Medicaid allotments for U.S. Territories, among other items.
• Paid Sick Leave, Unemployment Insurance, and Family and Medical Leave Provisions : Provides employees of employers with under 500 employees the right to two weeks of fully-paid leave when they are sick, or two weeks of paid leave at 2/3 of their normal rate to care for a family member (To the best of our knowledge, the employer size applies only to private employers; all school districts are included in this provision, regardless of size); Provides employees of employers with under 500 employees the right to take up to 12-weeks of job-protected leave; Provides $1 billion in 2020 emergency grants to states to meet the increased need for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits; and Provides several tax breaks for employers who give their employees mandatory paid leave during the emergency.
• The CARES Act was the first bill to include money specific to education, the provisions of which our outlined here: The $13.5 billion earmarked for K-12 schools is included in the bill's Education Stabilization Fund, which also contains $14.25 billion for higher education, and $3 billion for governors to use at their discretion to assist K-12 and higher education as they deal with the fallout from the virus. The legislation also states that any state or school district getting money from the stabilization fund "shall to the greatest extent practicable, continue to pay its employees and contractors during the period of any disruptions or closures related to coronavirus." Beyond the SFSF funds, the CARES Act includes:
• $15.5 billion for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program;
• $8.8 billion for Child Nutrition Programs to help ensure students receive meals when school is not in session;
• $3.5 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants, which provide child-care subsidies to low-income families and can be used to augment state and local systems;
• $750 million for Head Start early-education programs;
• $100 million in Project SERV grants to help clean and disinfect schools, and provide support for mental health services and distance learning;
• $69 million for schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education; and
• $5 million for health departments to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfecting schools and day-care facilities. 
• Waivers: This package includes waiver flexibility for states to get waivers on accountability (related to publicly reporting various indicators under their accountability systems, as well as waivers from reporting on progress toward their long-term achievement goals, and interim goals under ESSA and waivers to freeze in place their schools identified for improvement. No schools would be added to the list, and no schools would be removed from the list for the 2020-21 school year, under this expedited waiver process. There is no additional language related to IDEA flexibility; that remains the huge, bruising conversation we are having with the hill. There are also a handful of waivers available at the state and local level re flexibility from sections of ESSA related to funding mandates. SEAs/LEAs can seek a waiver:
• from ESSA's requirement for states to essentially maintain their education spending in order to tap federal funds. 
• to make it easier to run schoolwide Title I programs regardless of the share of low-income students in districts and schools. 
• from requirements governing Title IV Part A, which funds programs aimed at student well-being and well-rounded achievements. Caps on spending for different priority areas would be lifted, and schools would no longer be barred from spending more than 15 percent of their Title IV money on digital devices. 
• to carry over as much Title I money as they want from this academic year to the next one; normally there's a 15 percent limit. 
• from adhering to ESSA's definition of professional development. 

RESOURCES & WHAT’S NEXT

• What’s next? AASA advocacy is very focused on navigating COVID-4, and are pushing for significant investment in education. We are looking for additional funding in the state fiscal stabilization fund, funding through critical categorical funds like Title I and IDEA, inclusion of infrastructure funds for schools if broader infrastructure is in the package, relief and flexibility within IDEA, dedicated funding to support remote learning through the E-Rate program, and clear language related to state maintenance of effort and supplement/supplant as well as language related to actual enforcement (We want to avoid the shell game we saw during ARRA in 2009).
• IDEA Call to Action: Congress Must Grant Narrow, Temporary IDEA Flexibility NOW: In light of the hardship districts are experiencing in trying to educate all students during a pandemic, we call on Congress to provide practical, narrow flexibility in how districts meet some of the requirements under IDEA. If your district is struggling to meet IDEA mandates, we urge you to take a moment to email the education staff on Capitol Hill and ask them to ensure the next COVID-19 relief package contains sensible flexibility for IDEA. Please send an action alert to your full Congressional delegation today using AASA’s Action Alert System. You simply input your address and they will direct you to the appropriate Rep/Senators for you to email and supply a template email for you to use. Or you can download a list of all the education staffers for your Congressional delegation and email them individually here. We urge you to make your advocacy more impactful by personalizing this email and adding a paragraph describing the issues your district is specifically facing in complying with IDEA. Direct any questions to Sasha Pudelski ([email protected])
• Resources
• EdWeek Map Tracking School Closures
• AASA Policy Blog The Leading Edge
• AASA COVID-19 Resources Page
• AASA Webinars multiple COVID-specific webinars in the coming weeks)