Help Irina repay her unemployment

Hi everyone! My name is Irina. I am a mother of 2 little girls and a preschool teacher. I need help repaying unemployment I was granted during the beginning of the pandemic. It was revoked, I believe wrongfully. Here's my story:

When COVID-19 hit Atlanta, GA, where I live, I worked as a teacher three days a week in a preschool, teaching a class of 3 and 4-year-olds. I was told daily by a few of the parents that they appreciated me, and that their children loved me and were thoroughly enjoying my class. I had only one complaint from one parent about absences beyond my PTO, but my director and the chair of the personnel committee had assured me it was not an issue. I was never written up or formally reprimanded. I was also informed during my hiring interview that they encourage staff to take days off when needed, even if it's just because "you don't feel like being there." In addition, I had discussed returning the following year with the director of the school and she was excited about my return and said that we would work out details as soon as the board cleared the budget.

When everything closed, only essential employees were going to work. My husband was considered essential. I was suddenly home alone with our 18-month-old hyper-social attention-seeking daughter every day with no help. She is and was quite a handful and, at the time, had no interest in screen time, which meant she was almost constantly demanding my undivided attention. She also refused to sleep without me lying down with her. I could barely keep up with anything other than her care.

My boss, the school director, contacted the other teachers and me not long into the closure to let us know we were being asked to continue teaching virtually. We discussed ideas of how to do so, and she left it open for us to do what worked best for our situations and classrooms. At that time, I informed her that I was not going to be able to do much due to my situation, and she told me not to worry about it and that whatever I could offer would be enough. One or two of the other teachers were going to create web pages, so I decided to do the same (see below for link).

I built the website in the evenings after my husband came home from work, and in bed in the dark at night while my daughter slept beside me. I spent all day desperately trying to entertain my daughter and hoping for a chance to shower. After about a month of being quarantined, I came down with what my doctor was certain was a mild case of COVID. I never got a fever high enough to be allowed a test. At that same time, the other teachers and I were sent guidelines for expectations on how to teach virtually by the school board. One of the expectations was that we would offer a zoom meeting during times when we would have been in the classroom. Without childcare and being sick, I could see no way to provide anything consistent at all. I informed my director and the board of this and was told I had to find a way. I asked to be furloughed and was told no. I explained that it might be better financially for the staff to be furloughed and was told the school had no intention of furloughing the staff under any circumstances. I spoke again with the school director, and she told me again not to worry about it, to take care of myself first and do what I could for the class when and if I could. There were only a few weeks left till the end of the year when the board contacted me to inform me that they had received complaints about me from the parents and that they no longer intended to renew my contract. I was still receiving thank-yous from about half my classes' parents.

Considering the pandemic and lack of childcare for my daughter, I could not find a new job for months. I was paid through the end of the summer per my hiring agreement but had never been informed when the last paycheck would come. I applied for and was granted unemployment. When I thought I would no longer receive my salary from the school, I began logging in weekly to receive my unemployment. I then received another payment, my actual final payment, from the school. I reported that income the next time I logged in to collect unemployment. After about four months, I was able to get a new job beginning in January 2021 and stopped collecting unemployment.

Last spring, I received a notice that the school had contested unemployment. I had a hearing over the phone due to COVID precautions. The representative from the school was the new personnel chair, and we had never met. She stated that their concern was for the two weeks I was paid by the school while claiming unemployment. I told my story just as I have here. The ruling came back. I had lost and was told I would have to pay back all four months of unemployment.

I'm currently coming to the end of unpaid maternity leave. My husband and I are barely able to keep up with bills when I am working. A lot of things are up in the air right now and we are trying to figure out how to afford life with a new addition.

Thank you for reading my story. If you feel like you can and want to help, I would be eternally grateful.

A few notes: