ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown School District’s paraprofessionals have a new, five-year contract after school directors approved the agreement Thursday.
The new contract boosts hourly pay 22% in the first year of the contract and 3% each year after.
“This is the best contract we’ve gotten since I’ve been doing this,” said Linda Kay Groves, president of the Allentown Federation of Paraprofessionals Local 1716.
This is the best contract we’ve gotten since I’ve been doing this. It’s not where we should be, but it’s definitely not where we were.Linda Kay Groves, president of the Allentown Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local 1716
“It’s not where we should be, but it’s definitely not where we were.”
Groves, who has negotiated paraprofessional contracts in ASD for more than 15 years, said members are “very happy” with the new agreement.
There are more than 300 paraprofessionals in ASD, of which 183 are union members. The contract applies to all paraprofessionals employed by ASD.
The agreement was voted on by 79 union members Wednesday and ratified in a 56-21 vote, with two abstentions, Groves said.
Allentown School Board then ratified the contract in a 7-0 vote. School directors LaTarsha Brown and Zaleeae Sierra were not present.
The union and ASD had been negotiating the contract since January.
“It’s always good when the union and the district can work together for a common goal, and we were very excited about getting to this place,” board President Andrene Brown-Nowell said after Thursday's vote.
School Director Phoebe Harris thanked the paraprofessionals for staying with ASD throughout the pandemic.
“That was a crazy time for everyone, and we just wanted to show our appreciation for you with this new contract,” Harris said.
What do raises look like?
Starting pay for full-time, special education paraprofessionals will be $19 an hour for the 2024-25 school year.
Under the previous three-year contract, those paraprofessionals — the largest covered by the agreement — were paid $15.56 an hour to start.
By the end of the new contract, starting pay for this group will sit at $21.38 an hour.
“I really honor you and the work that you do. I know first-hand how much love and commitment that you put forward in this work.”Allentown Schools Superintendent Carol Birks
The most senior group of full-time, special education paraprofessionals, who have worked 31 years or more, will be paid $22.52 an hour this academic year.
By the end of the contract, they'll make $25.35 an hour.
Full-time instructional paraprofessionals will start at $17.50 an hour in the first year of the contract, and the most senior paraprofessionals in that group will be paid $20.27 an hour.
Instructional paraprofessionals work with non-special education student groups, such as English language learners.
By the end of the contract, starting pay for full-time instructional paraprofessionals will be $19.70 an hour, and the most senior paraprofessionals in the group will get $22.82 an hour.
The new contract began July 1, but paraprofessionals will not get retroactive pay. Their new hourly pay will take effect Monday. The contract runs until June 30, 2029.
According to a news release from the district, ASD paraprofessionals are some of the highest-paid in the Lehigh Valley.
Additionally, competitive pay is one way the district is working to retain staff, a goal that was laid out in ASD’s recently unveiled strategic plan, the news release said.
“I really honor you and the work that you do,” Superintendent Carol Birks said Thursday. “I know first-hand how much love and commitment that you put forward in this work.”
Birks said she was a special education paraprofessional earlier in her career. Under her administration, the district created a program to help ASD paraprofessionals earn a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate at an accelerated rate.
Pay schedule and substitutes
In addition to raises, Groves said, the union fought to let members continue being paid year-round, having pay dispersed in 26 or 27 bi-weekly paychecks, rather than only being paid during the 10 months school is in session as the district had proposed.
Newly hired paraprofessionals will not be paid year-round under the terms of the new contract; they will get 21 or 22 paychecks over the course of the school year.
Under the agreement, ASD also will have new flexibility to hire part-time paraprofessionals at rates that can compete with outside vendors that are currently providing the district with substitute services, according to a news release.
When ASD brings in a substitute paraprofessional from a vendor, the substitute can fill a position for no more than 90 days in a school year under the terms of the contract.
Groves said the union and the district hope to move toward hiring more paraprofessionals so that no outside vendors are required to staff positions in district classrooms.
There is no change to paid time off under the new contract — paraprofessionals will continue getting 11 sick days and four personal days.
Additionally, paraprofessionals will get the same medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits agreed to in the teachers’ contract that was negotiated by Allentown Education Association and ratified in 2023.
