Cindy Giametti became a paraprofessional immediately following her graduation from Quinnipiac University 33 years ago, starting out at a middle school in Branford. After three years in her first stint in the job, she took a decade-long hiatus to focus on raising her family. Following a divorce, she returned to what she had known, which was “being a paraprofessional, so I got back into the field,” Giametti said.

She again worked in Branford, but, instead, at an elementary school as a literacy “para.” That’s just one of the several kinds of roles that a paraprofessional may assume in the classroom.

“There’s different kinds of paras; in each district, it’s different,” Giametti says. “Here in East Haven...we have a multitude of different paras. We have what they call a special education para, and then you have a literacy para, you have an instructional para, an ABA [Applied Behavior Analysis] para…even though we all fall under the same umbrella as a paraprofessional, we do have our own distinct, different descriptions.”

But among the “different descriptions” and separate corresponding responsibilities, she recognizes the connecting tissue between all ‘paras.’

“The one thread that runs through them all is you’re there to support the academic growth of a student,” she says. “And then within that, in the classroom, even though we’re told you’re there for the students, you’re also there for your teacher that you work with.”

Previously working with third graders in an elementary setting, Giametti sees the biggest difference between working with that younger body of students and hers at Joseph Melillo Middle School (JMMS), amounting to independence. While the former requires greater attention, students at JMMS are more adept to “navigate their way a little bit more,” where that independence can be more effectively fostered, as is preferable for Giametti.

“They’re trying to find their way as who they are, and I like that stage,” she says.

Yet whether elementary or junior high students, Giametti has discovered that her role as a paraprofessional has significantly changed since her first job in Branford, taking on more responsibilities with students, partly as a result of “close to 20-plus paraprofessional jobs unfilled,” in the East Haven School District, according to Giametti. Trouble has been found in attracting new paras, across the state as well, Giametti has found, leaving employees such as her “picking up the slack for the empty positions,” she said.

In a school district and state where “education has changed tremendously,” and student behavior is beyond recognition when she started three decades ago, Giametti is empowered to take action and advocate proudly for causes to better the position of ‘paras’ in schools.

She is the president of the paraprofessionals union in East Haven, a 110-member organization of district paraprofessionals that have been fighting for a number of issues that they uniquely have been facing for years. These include fulfilling a lack of paraeducators in the district, fair compensation, paid sick days and vacation time, and medical benefits, all of which Giametti has examined with a meticulous eye.

“I go through paraprofessional contracts throughout the state: I go online, and I look, and you would be hard-pressed to find any contracts that don’t give at least two, three holidays. We don’t get one,” she said. “Our wages are still well below the average. Some of our people are making just barely over minimum wage, which is not acceptable. We’re working with the most vulnerable populations in a public school.”

A lack of a sufficient number of paraprofessionals has left workers like Giametti to take on previously assumed responsibilities that can amount to a “co-parenting” role for those “vulnerable populations.” This can be for kids who may not have money for lunch, are facing mental or physical health issues, and counseling. In her view, this can leave education as a secondary component for students, which should be paramount above all else.

“We’ve taken on, in my opinion, which I feel are parental responsibilities,” she says. “We have all these services, and people will look at that as sort of a great thing, and I guess you could see it as a great thing for these kids who don’t have that privilege to do that, but I’m old-school, so it’s kind of hard for me to wrap my head around.”

But amidst the politics, Giametti loves the people with whom she works and the camaraderie they share. She ultimately views her role as indispensable to JMMS, and her colleagues recognize that, too.

“The teachers are very appreciative. Most of them know they cannot run their classrooms without us; the schools cannot run without us. Especially at the elementary level where you have children who need direct supervision.”

She recalls an interaction with a student she had worked with a number of years before, reinforcing that belief in the necessity of paras.

“One time I was in the car at a stoplight, and I see somebody get out of their car behind me…then I recognized it was one of my students from five years ago that saw me in the car, and came and just had to say, ‘Hi, Ms. G! Oh my God, I miss you.’ [Those are] things that make a difference to me because I made an impact on their life. And having someone remember you like that, is priceless to me.”