Norwich furloughs school workers.
Norwich — The sudden closure of city schools for at least two weeks will result in more than 300 Norwich public schools’ staff in numerous educational and support positions being placed on furlough, school officials confirmed Monday.
As of Monday afternoon, 321 public school workers, some full time and some part time and some oncall substitute teachers, were notified late last week or Monday morning that they are being placed on furlough. They comprise about 35% of the district’s workforce.
School Business Administrator Athena Nagel said the district did not have time to send out formal forms for furloughed employees to apply for unemployment benefits but sent notices by email and phone calls informing them they could apply for unemployment. Some already are filing unemployment applications, Nagel said.
Furloughed staff positions include teen outreach program coordinators, family resource center staff, preschool staff, classroom interventionists, afterschool program staff, site coordinators, school safety officers, adult education staff, virtual learning staff, speech tutors, homebound tutors and job coaches, and some food service staff.
136 remained on duty
As of Monday, 136 schools’ support staff remained on duty, including custodians, maintainers, administrative assistants, administrators, supervisors, registered behavior technicians, behavior specialists, certified behaviorists, student services supervisors, some food service staff and some safety officers, Nagel said.
Norwich Food Services Director Erin Perpetua said Monday that 11 of the 50 food services staff were retained to coordinate and assemble the to-go breakfast and lunch packages at 18 food distribution sites throughout the city Monday through Friday during the school closure.
School officials have not been informed of any special compensation for employees furloughed due to concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus, Nagel said. Under standard unemployment programs, the school system would be required to cover dollar-for-dollar unemployment pay for affected staff, up to 80% of their regular pay in some cases.
School officials are also consulting with the district’s attorney on how the mandated closure will affect the school bus contract with First Student Inc.
Steven Jensen, director of communications at the state Department of Labor, said there currently is no special compensation for those laid off due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. All claims are filed through www.FileCTUI. com. The department has posted information for people who are laid off due to the coronavirus at www.ct.gov/ DOL and instructions on how to file for unemployment compensation. Eligibility will be determined on a case by case basis.
For workers who have a specific return-to-work date, an expedited process is available. Those without a specific return date are asked to enter April 1 as the return date, Jensen said.
Jensen also said that American Job Centers in Willimantic and Danielson will be closed until March 27. All unemployment insurance claims and inquiries must be done online at www.filectui.com.