CEA’s March 16, 2020 update includes compensation of CEA members, CEA office hours, CEA staff and leadership emails, March 17 primary election, UHC virtual visits, and EAP. CEA will continue to update members regularly via the ceaohio.org website and social media.

Compensation of CEA members and other school employees

On March 12, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine announced that effective with the end of the school day on March 16, 2020, all public, private, and charter schools in Ohio will be closed due to the COVID-19 epidemic for a period of three weeks. In addition, Columbus City Schools elected to declare Monday, March 15 a calamity day. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3319.08; requires that Teachers be paid for “all time lost when the schools in which they are employed are closed due to an epidemic or other public calamity…”  The term “Teacher” as defined by Ohio Revised Code includes all members of CEA regardless of job title. Members should not be concerned that a school closure due to the COVID-19 epidemic will result in any loss of compensation.

Please direct payroll questions to payroll@columbus.k12.oh.us., and Human Resources questions to HR@columbus.k12.oh.us.

CEA Office Hours

As this crisis unfolds, CEA is striving to make wise and timely decisions regarding support for our members and students across the district, while heeding the recommendations of the CDC and other agencies regarding public health and the safety of CEA staff and leadership. Therefore, the CEA office will be closed in conjunction with Columbus City Schools until April 6, 2020. However, CEA staff will continue to serve our members by teleworking. Please note that the CEA office general voicemail will not be monitored, however, CEA staff will be checking their e-mail accounts daily. For individual e-mail addresses; as well as CEA updates please visit the CEA website at www.ceaohio.org. Please continue to monitor your CCS and personal e-mail accounts for updates. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 crisis closely and communicate CEA decisions as situations change.

CEA Staff and Leadership Emails

John Coneglio: coneglioj@ceaohio.org
Phil Hayes: hayesp@ceaohio.org
Jeremy Baiman: baimanj@ohea.org
Tom Busher: bushert@ceaohio.org
Tia Hayden: haydent@ceaohio.org
Cindy Love: lovec@ceaohio.org
Teri Mullins: tmullins@ceaohio.org
Dorothy Wilson: dwilson@ceaohio.org
Kathy Wilkes: wilkesk@ceaohio.org
Michelle Crouse: crousem@ceaohio.org

March 17 Primary Election

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced this afternoon that in-person voting for the March 17 Primary Election has been delayed until June 2. Absentee ballots are permitted during the delay. Please check the Franklin County Board of Elections website for details.

Virtual Visits/United Health Care
UnitedHealthcare’s virtual visits model lets members see and talk to a doctor from their homes anytime, day or night. Complete a brief medical history anytime at https://uhc.com/VirtualVisits

EAP
We know that the coming weeks will be difficult for many. Guidance Resources are available to staff members 24/7. You can choose to access EAP via phone or online.
Phone: 800.774.6420 (TDD 800.697.0353) or On-line: www.guidanceresources.com

Please see the following communication from the Columbus City Schools regarding staffing and payment plans during the extended closure:

Extended School Closure Staffing Plans

March 12, 2020

Columbus City Schools Colleagues:

We are in the midst of a truly unique and unprecedented situation as we prepare for an extended school closure at least through April 3 due to the Governor’s orders regarding the community spread of COVID-19.

With this in mind, District administration has been planning and making decisions regarding staffing scenarios with all stakeholders in mind. We want to act in the best interest of our students and their families, in addition to our staff and their own families at home. We have approached staffing scenarios over the next three weeks to balance critical District operations while ensuring our staff members maintain their earnings and benefits.

Specific details are outlined below, but in general, Columbus City Schools will be treating this extended school closure as calamity days. Staff will be compensated in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement or association compensation package.

Monday, March 16

• Monday, March 16, will be considered a calamity day and is outside of what the Governor has ordered for school closures.
• Only essential personnel, as deemed by supervisors, will be required to report to work. Supervisors will communicate directly to staff members whether they are considered essential or non-essential for Monday, March 16.
• Any staff member who is required to work that day will be compensated in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement or association compensation package.

Tuesday, March 17 – Friday, April 3

• The time period covered through the Governor’s current order (March 17 – April 3) will be considered calamity days for the purposes of compensating staff.
• All CCS buildings, including administrative sites and schools, will be closed to everyone except essential personnel. These essential staff members are strongly encouraged to work from home in order to practice social distancing and help reduce the community spread of COVID-19.
• The 33 school sites that serve as polling locations on Election Day, Tuesday, March 17, will be open for those purposes.
• Only essential personnel, as deemed by supervisors, will be required to report to work — either online or on site. Supervisors will communicate directly to staff members whether they are considered essential or non-essential for any or all of the days during the extended school closure.
• Any staff member who is required to work that day will be compensated in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement or association compensation package.
• Supervisors will only assign work that is absolutely critical to the operations of the District during the extended school closure. Documentation of this assigned work will be required.
• All administrative buildings will be closed and minimally staffed during the break, including the Columbus Education Center (270 E. State St.).
• For any staff member that receives a physical paycheck, it will be mailed to your home address on file. You may view your paycheck status in the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal.

Substitute Staff

• Long-term substitutes with established schedules will be compensated in accordance with their respective schedule.
• For all other substitute categories and part-time hourly employees, the District will look back to Jan. 1, 2020, and calculate average earnings per week based on regular hours worked. This average will be paid as weekly earnings during the extended school closure. Earnings will be paid according to the typical payroll calendar.
  • If a substitute staff member is limited to a certain number of hours per week, that number will be capped within the average calculation.

Staff Professional Travel and Field Trips

• All staff professional travel/conferences are cancelled through April 5.
• All school field trips are cancelled through April 5.

Work From Home Resources

• Resources and information for staff regarding work from home procedures will be posted on the District website.

Questions

• For Payroll questions, email payroll@columbus.k12.oh.us.
• For Human Resources questions, email HR@columbus.k12.oh.us.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released updated guidance for childcare and K-12 settings about COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) — formerly referred to as 2019-nCoV or 2019 novel coronavirus. For more complete recommendations: Click Here