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Paraprofessional describes pay and benefits shortfalls, urges board to address staffing
Summary
A classroom PCA told the board that lack of summer pay, absent health coverage, and limited paid holidays are driving paraprofessional shortages and forcing staff to take multiple jobs, increasing strain on classrooms.
Chelsea Serino of West Pittston spoke during public comment about working as a classroom PCA in the district's life-skills class. Serino said PCAs do not receive summer pay or unemployment, have limited paid holidays and only three paid two-hour delays, and must pay for health care out of pocket because health insurance is not offered to the role.
Serino said these compensation and benefit gaps have made it difficult to retain paraprofessionals: some staff now work multiple jobs and one-on-one paraprofessionals are being asked to move between classrooms during the day. She said the shortages are not from lack of interest but from competing incentives offered by neighboring districts, including health care, paid summers, and year-round pay structures.
"We are struggling to maintain the workloads being handed and struggling outside of the school financially," Serino said, asking the board to consider contract and policy decisions affecting paraeducator compensation.
The transcript records Serino’s account as public comment; no board response or motion addressing pay or benefits is recorded in the transcript at the meeting.
