After teachers and paraeducators shared concerns over staff allocation in special education classrooms, Vancouver Public Schools is clarifying what paraeducator adjustments are expected to mean across the district.
The Vancouver Education Association’s recently negotiated contract includes reductions to program paraeducators in a slate of special education classrooms. Program paraeducators, as the name suggests, are classroom aides assigned to specific programs.
But the contract language remains unavailable to the public, prompting concern and anger from special education teachers who are losing program paraeducators in their classrooms. The teachers union and school district are still finalizing the contract.
“It is critical it be done accurately,” said Kathy Everidge, human resources director for the district.
Although that contract language remains unavailable to the public, Vancouver Public Schools provided it to The Columbian. According to the new contract, Structured Communications Centers, Supported Communications Programs, and the Gateway to Adult Transition Education programs — three different types of special education programs in the district — will be assigned one fewer program paraeducator. Class sizes will also be reduced in those classrooms.
Here are the specifics of the adjustments:
• Structured Communications Centers will have two program paraeducators for up to nine students. Last year it was three program paraeducators for up to 10 students.
• Supported Communications Programs will have two program paraeducators for up to 13 students. Last year it was three program paraeducators for up to 14 students.
• At the GATE program, there will be 16 students per full-time teacher and two paraeducators. Last year, it was 18 students and three program paraeducators.
According to district estimates, 13 paraeducators at nine campuses will lose their current placements. Those paraeducators, however, will be reassigned with the same hours and salary at other campuses starting Monday, according to the district. No paraeducators have lost jobs or wages.
The new contract also removed language in the 2016-2018 contract that moved program paraeducators into one-on-one positions. Some special education students under their Individualized Education Programs — legally binding outlines of the services they must receive in school — require a paraeducator to be assigned to them at all times.
But the Vancouver Association of Education Support Professionals, the union representing paraeducators and some other staff, told the teachers union that the change in the contract language would change paraeducators’ working conditions.
“It was problematic,” said Lynn Davidson, a representative with the Washington Education Association’s Riverside office who is working with the paraeducators union. The VAESP union held a closed meeting Thursday to address the changes.
Additional one-on-one paraeducators will be added to classrooms where students need that service, said Laura Bergeron, director of special education for the district. The net effect is that in many cases, the same number of adults will be in the classroom with students. She noted there are classes where upward of 90 percent of students are to be assigned a one-on-one paraeducator, leading to classrooms with more adults than students.
Everidge said that the timing of the contract approval compounded confusion and frustration around paraeducator allotments. Normally, the contract is approved much earlier in the summer, allowing the district to make staffing adjustments and provide information to teachers before school begins. But Vancouver’s teacher strike saw school closed for four days, and the contract language is still being finalized.
“We’re all trying to get accurate information out,” she said.
