Paraprofessionals play an instrumental role in schools as part of a team providing educational and support services to children. The teacher is the team leader and has sole responsibility for introducing new material, while the paraprofessional reinforces the teacher’s lessons.

Here are some of the rights and responsibilities that paraprofessionals should know about.

Classroom supervision

Paraprofessionals must not be left alone in a classroom without a teacher when the teacher is called away for a meeting or is absent for the day. Paraprofessionals must be under the direct supervision of a licensed teacher in or out of a classroom.

Lunchroom role

School administrators may not direct paraprofessionals to supervise the lunchroom, according to Special Circular 6R. Schools have other school-based personnel, including school aides and supervising school aides, who can be assigned this responsibility.

Paraprofessionals, including one-to-one paraprofessionals, are entitled to a duty-free lunch period. One-to-one paraprofessionals should only be with their students while the students are having their lunch if it is mandated on the student’s Individualized Education Program/504 plan. In that case, they should have a duty-free lunch at some other point in the workday.

If a paraprofessional has been assigned to be with their one-to-one student during that student’s lunch period and it’s not mandated on the student’s IEP, the paraprofessional should report it to the school’s UFT chapter leader. If a paraprofessional is unsure about the requirements on a child’s IEP/504 plan, they should ask to see it. State law requires that paraprofessionals have access to the IEPs of students in their care.

Due process rights

Around 2012, the Department of Education began routinely removing paraprofessionals from payroll after any allegation, whether major or minor. The UFT sprang into action, winning multiple cases at arbitration, including a union-initiated grievance on paraprofessional suspensions. UFT President Michael Mulgrew prioritized paraprofessionals in the 2018 DOE-UFT contract negotiations and managed in that contract to secure due process rights for paraprofessionals that are almost identical to those for teachers.

Now, paraprofessionals can no longer be automatically removed from payroll for minor infractions, and the DOE has a financial incentive not to drag its feet when investigating more serious allegations.

If arrested, a paraprofessional must report the arrest to the DOE’s Office of Personnel Investigations (OPI) and their school as soon as possible. If OPI determines that the charges, if proven, would constitute serious or sexual misconduct as defined by Article 21G of the DOE-UFT contract, the paraprofessional can be immediately removed from payroll without pay for up to two months. A paraprofessional in this situation should speak to their chapter leader or a representative from the UFT Grievance Department. To extend the term of removal from payroll for longer than two months, the DOE must request a probable cause hearing before a neutral arbitrator and receive a finding of probable cause. If the DOE does not take this step, the paraprofessional will be entitled to back pay for the time they were removed from payroll beyond two months.

If the paraprofessional is indicted on the charges, they can be removed from payroll pending the disposition of the charges. If the case is later dismissed or the paraprofessional is exonerated and no further disciplinary action is taken based on the same conduct, the paraprofessional must be returned to their position and made whole for the time they were removed from payroll.