By Hope Shrum
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—As the COVID-19 pandemic continues taking a toll throughout the state in lives and declining revenues, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced an initiative to provide Hoosiers with help as they begin returning to the workforce.

Friday, at Holcomb’s virtual press briefing, the discussion focused on state revenues, which are more than $1 billion short of projections for the year; a workforce development program, funded with federal dollars; and plans to restart in-person learning in K-12 schools.

Dr. Kristina Box, Commissioner of the State Health Department, reported 533 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 36,578, and another 27 deaths, for a total of 2,078 Hoosiers who have died from the disease. The number does not include the 180 Hoosiers believed to have died from the virus.

Box also said that the second phase of the COVID-19 study being conducted by the Richard M. Fairbanks Schools of Public Health is underway this week and ends Sunday.

“If you’ve received a postcard, a text message or an email saying you’ve been selected to participate, please get tested, even if you’ve already been tested,” Box said.

For the second straight month, COVID-19 hit the state hard economically as revenues declined sharply year-over-year. Cris Johnston, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said revenues are down 20% from the estimated forecast in December and sales taxes, in particular, are down nearly 15% from what was expected, a reflection of a drop in consumer spending.

To help Hoosiers and businesses get back to work, the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet launched a new initiative, “Rapid Recovery for a Better Future.”

The $50 million initiative is being funded through the $2.4 billion funds Indiana received from the CARES Act, and it will provide free access to short-term, online courses and training for more than 100,000 Hoosiers. It will also expand the Employer Training Grant to train 25,000 Indiana residents.

The CARES Act is the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that was passed by Congress to help deal with the impact of the pandemic.

Workforce Ready grants will be available to Hoosiers with a high school diploma to use for training programs in an array of fields and cover the cost of tuition at a number of schools.

As the state continues to reopen for business and other activities, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick released a 38-page document of guidelines on how Indiana schools can safely resume in-person instruction this fall.

The document, Indiana’s Considerations for Learning and Safe Schools or IN-CLASS, offers recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control that schools and districts can take to protect students and faculty.

None of these recommendations are requirements of the state. It will be up to local districts to decide how their schools will operate in the fall.

“We believe where we are right now, schools can and should open for instruction, and we wouldn’t have made that decision or endorsed the proposal to go forward if we thought otherwise,” Holcomb. “They are recommendations. They are guardrails that we put into place, and if a school chooses a hybrid approach, an e-learning and an in-school, both options, so be it. There is no one size or circumstance that fits all.”

Some of the suggestions from the document include modifications to transportation, a combination of in-person and distance learning, and limiting students’ contact with each other.

IN-CLASS proposes closing school cafeterias and have students eat bagged or boxed meals at their desks.

It is also suggested to provide in-person instruction to elementary school students and increase distance learning for higher grade levels.

FOOTNOTE: Hope Shrum is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.