Dear Peregrine Community,
As you know, our goal is to keep the school alive during this difficult time and to resume normal operations as soon as possible. Here are the steps we have taken.
Staff Layoffs
We’ve had to lay off many staff members, which has been excruciating. On March 31, 2020 we laid off 38 employees, most of them full time. We reduced hours of 24 ECC staff participating in the distance learning and enrichment programs by 75-85%. We also laid off some Administrative and Elementary School staff and reduced the hours of others by 50%. We paid all school staff school closure pay (full wages) through April 3, 2020. We expect that almost all of them applied for unemployment last week, but since California has had an increase in weekly claims of over 100,000 the past few weeks, it's not clear how many weeks it will take to receive benefits. California unemployment insurance only covers about 50% of wages. There should be some additional relief coming from recently passed federal legislation, but when that money will actually arrive in the hands of recipients is unknown.
Go Fund Me Account for Staff
Stephanie Hockman and her husband Paul Philley (parents of Lilly Philley in Escuelita South) have graciously set up a Go Fund Me account for the teachers and staff that were laid off or had their hours reduced. If you would like to participate, please donate through their Go Fund Me page here. This fundraiser will close on FRIDAY, APRIL 17th. Please help spread the word and share this link!
Peregrine School Rent Payment
Tandem Properties, our landlord at Peregrine School West, has graciously suspended our rent at Peregrine School West for the duration of the school closure.
North Bay Properties, our landlord at Peregrine School South, has refused our request for a reduction or suspension of rent. They have made one concession, which is to allow us to apply our security deposit towards April’s rent. The amount of the security deposit is about half the monthly rent.
Federal Relief for Small Businesses
We have submitted loan applications to the funding programs created by the recently passed federal CARES Act. One of these loans, the Paycheck Protection Program, may be partially forgivable if we can rehire our employees by June 30, 2020. However, information about the requirements for loan forgiveness, the guaranteed interest rate, and the timing for actually receiving funds is very confused and opaque; we probably won’t be able to determine whether the loan makes sense for us or will help us return to normal until we see the details in the promissory note.
Please, let us know if you have any questions. Wishes of safety and health to all.
Sincerely, Peregrine School Directors