Revere Paraprofessionals Union Seeks Six-and-a-Half Hour Work Day

At last Tuesday night’s Revere Public School (RPS) Committee meeting President of the Revere Paraprofessionals Union Susan Buckley lobbied the committee for a six and half hour work day as opposed to the current three hour and fifty-five minute work day for RPS paraprofessionals.

As RPS is in contract negotiations with the Revere’s Teachers Association (RTA) , Buckley said her union members feel like their voice is not always heard.
“They don’t often have the time to participate,” said Buckley. “A lot of them work second jobs so I’ve chosen to be their voice. We sent out something to (members) get some quotes for them on why they think we should have a six and half hour workday versus a three hour and fifty-five minute workday. First off, a lot of them are feeling the pain that a lot of our members need to leave the district to go seek full time employment in other places. Ten school liaisons and medical aides are now full time and you would think that those of us that work with the most vulnerable students would be full time seeing the need is there especially coming out of COVID. We are seeing a lot of behavioral problems and socio-emotional issues with some children, especially the youngest that are now entering school for the first time.”

Buckley said another member responded to the union survey and worried that being under 32.5 hours a week leaves RPS paraprofessionals without benefits like health insurance.

“Working part time, if I get sick, I don’t have health insurance if I need to stay out and seek medical attention,” said Buckley quoting a member.

Buckley argued that paraprofessionals bond with children during the school day but don’t start and finish their day with the children they have bonded with.

“This can trigger negative behaviors,” she said. “COVID-19 has left a lasting impact on our youngest students in Pre-K through grade one. These children have never been in a classroom setting and our teachers need extra help now more than ever navigating daily routines, and giving our students the social emotional support they need. Lots of us are seeing school adjustment counselors basically running like chickens with their heads cut off from classroom to classroom in kindergarten and in the grade one small learning groups. They just don’t have the support and we don’t think these adjustment counselors just can’t keep up and I think thawing a paraprofessional fulltime in the classroom would definitely help in situations like that when the teacher needs to defuse situations.”

Buckley added, “Our kids are the most vulnerable in the district yet they are never given the full attention they deserve. They need staff that can help. The district could ensure that students have the support they need if they redistribute the hours of the vacant positions to the existing staff and give them a six and half hour work day instead of a three hour and fifty-five minute workday. Our kids need us there but the district is robbing them of the support by not doing this. I just thought during negotiations, I wanted to take this opportunity because I’ve been getting a lot of paraprofessionals reaching out to me and I just wanted to share their perspective because they don’t have a voice at the table.”