CCSD substitutes anxious over lost unemployment pay, new school year

Three Clark County School District substitute teachers all have the same problem: They lost two months’ worth of pay when a state mandate closed schools in March.

Each has filed for unemployment insurance benefits, but there doesn’t seem to be any consistency or guidance on which program is the right one.

Zakury Walters, who was working close to two months at an elementary school, was approved for regular unemployment insurance benefits.

Fernando Valenzuela, who was filling a vacancy, was denied regular benefits and applied for a federal program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, but has yet to be approved.

Jazzmyne Valle, who worked as a substitute about three days a week, was approved for both programs but has only received one payment.

“Some people were getting denied, some were getting approved, and we had no idea why,” Valenzuela said. “We had absolutely no information or even help from CCSD, and when the PUA benefits came, people started applying for that. And again, some got approved, some didn’t. There’s people still waiting for their back pay. It’s been a mess.”

The substitute teachers say they’re confused about which unemployment program they’re eligible for, and many worry they’ll have to pay back benefits received if they’ve filed claims under the wrong program, as other jobless Nevadans have.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation declined to say which program substitute teachers ought to be applying for and whether they will have to pay back benefits from one program versus another.

Final bell

Public, private and charter schools closed their doors March 16 after a directive from Gov. Steve Sisolak to help mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus. The closure was expected to last until April 6, but Sisolak later announced school would remain closed for the remainder of the year. The Clark County School District’s final day was May 20.

The school district did not plan to pay substitutes during the closure but partially reversed course, paying only certified tutors and vacancy substitutes, who fill in for teachers on leave and other longer-term absences.

But Valenzuela said vacancy substitutes only make up about 15 percent of the substitute pool.

“So everyone tried filing for unemployment,” he said.

Valenzuela was working as a vacancy substitute and applied for regular unemployment but was denied.

He then filed for PUA benefits after DETR launched the program on May 16, but his PUA claim shows it’s under review, and he hasn’t received any payments.

“I’ve tried to call, and I’ve had the same problem as pretty much everybody else — I can’t get ahold of anybody,” he said.

DETR spokeswoman Rosa Mendez said in a statement that individuals with a W-2 wage in 2019 and early 2020 may qualify for regular unemployment and must file a claim through the traditional portal, UInv.gov, before filing a claim on the PUA system at EmployNV.

“The federal government has a rule — if a person qualifies for UI, they must apply for regular UI, even if they had some 1099 wages,” Mendez said. “We understand the confusion with the different programs. However, the offsetting of benefits only works if the filer is in the correct program and in continued filing status. Unfortunately, there is not a way to offset for different programs.”

Indebted to DETR?

Walters said he was approved under the regular program in March and has been receiving his weekly benefits, but he is worried he will have to pay it back after learning that other substitute teachers have PUA claims.

“I feel like that’s something that’s going to be kicked down the road (by DETR) to sometime next year when everything seems fine,” he said. “And then you’re going to get hit with this large government bill saying, ‘Oh hey, remember all that money we gave you? We need it back.’ ”

DETR did not comment on whether substitute teachers would have to repay their benefits if they’re deemed at some point to have been receiving them through the wrong program, but Nevada state law outlines claimants who have been overpaid must repay the state unless the overpayment “was received without fault on the part of the recipient, and its recovery would be against equity and good conscience, as determined by the Administrator.”

Overpayment is when a filer receives more money than they are eligible for and can occur for a several reasons, from a claimant failing to report earnings or income, fraud or errors made by DETR, according to the state of Nevada website. It also said that “all overpaid benefits must be repaid.”

Nevada made an estimated $30.7 million in improper payments, or overpayments, last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and has sought repayments from jobless Nevadans since March.

Mixed messaging

Adding to the mounting pile of confusion is mixed messaging from the school district and DETR staff on summer payments.

The CCSD has said teachers are not eligible to receive benefits over the summer because they are between terms during summer break and not unemployed because of the pandemic.

But some, like Valle, say they are being told by DETR representatives to continue filing weekly claims.

Valle said she spoke with someone from the PUA call center and was told to continue filing weekly claims through the summer because with the coronavirus, “things are different.”

“Is that going to put a hold on my claim? Is it going to get flagged … because I’m claiming weeks that I shouldn’t be claiming?” she said. “There’s no consistency. I feel like it’s a roll of the dice.”

Valenzuela said substitutes who have continued to file claims during the summer have told him they’re concerned over possibly having to pay back those benefits because the school district has made it clear substitutes can’t claim unemployment during the summer.

“A lot of substutites who have been approved for some form of benefits are worried they’re going to have to pay it back because of what CCSD says,” Valenzuela said.

Looking for work

Valle said she substitutes about three days a week while attending UNLV as a student. She filed for regular unemployment benefits in March, shortly after schools shut down, and received one payment of $206.

She continued to file her weekly claim, but on May 30 her claim showed it had expired with no explanation. She then filed for PUA benefits in June to try and continue receiving benefits.

“They (DETR) sent me a letter that said I was approved for PUA, but ever since then I’ve been calling and every time I talk to an agent I get different excuses as to why my payments aren’t getting through (to me),” she said.

She and others are even more concerned about what comes next. When school district classes resume Aug. 24, they will be online only.

Valle said she is worried there won’t be demand for substitute teachers for a long while, making it even more financially difficult as she waits for her unemployment benefits.

“Are teachers really going to be asking for a substitute if they’re already going to be working from home?” she said. “There’s so many substitutes; I know we’re going to be fighting over these jobs because there’s not really a lot (of them).”

Walters is also skeptical there will be opportunities for him to step in as a substitute.

“I’ve been looking for alternate work,” he said.

CCSD spokesman Mauricio Marin said the district of 320,000 students has approximately 4,200 substitute teachers in its pool.

“It’s too early to tell, but I think there will be vacancies from day-to-day callouts,” Marin said. “Again, it’s unprecedented times, but we do think it is fair to say that we’re assuring them the same type of work that we experienced in past school years.”

But Valle is not convinced, adding that she learned last week a vacancy position she was expected to fill this year fell through.

“I wish they (CCSD) would stop saying that we have reasonable assurance because I don’t think that that’s true,” she said.

A previous version of this story incorrectly reported Fernando Valenzuela’s position with CCSD and his PUA filing status.

Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.