Parents, paras urge Wareham School Committee to approve paraprofessionals’ contract amid safety concerns

Dozens of parents, paraprofessionals and school staff pressed the Wareham School Committee on Dec. 18 to approve a negotiated paraprofessionals contract they say has been delayed, leaving classrooms short-staffed and students—particularly those with disabilities—at risk.

Deanna Semple, a physical-education teacher and president of the Wareham Education Association, said she reviews incident and accident reports that come into the superintendent’s office and has seen a sharp increase in staff injuries. “There is an unsafe situation at the schools with not enough staff,” she said, urging the committee to vote on “the contract that your fellow school committee members sat for months and negotiated in good faith and agreed to.”

Parents and staff gave detailed examples they said show how shortages create safety risks. One parent said her son, a nonverbal student with epilepsy, requires constant supervision and wears a GPS bracelet because he runs; another speaker said a student recently left a classroom and went onto Diegus Street, a busy road, and that staff did not notify the child’s parent. Marilyn Morley, a paraprofessional at Wareham Elementary, said she earns “just under $29,000 a year,” comes in early and stays late to cover missing staff and has taken physical hits on the job. “We have people getting hurt,” Morley said.

Teachers and administrators backed those accounts. Jack Jennings, a special-education teacher, said behavior is “a form of communication” and that consistent staffing with trained adults is essential to meeting students’ needs. Nancy Seedholm, an elementary special-education administrator, said the school has roughly 250 special-education students and that frequent reassignment of paras harms students who require familiar adults.

Speakers tied recruitment and retention to pay and contract status. Multiple commenters said paraprofessionals leave or are not applying because the contract has not been ratified and recommended a multiyear contract and pay increases to align with neighboring districts.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the contract during the public-comment period. Committee members later offered a public statement of appreciation for paraprofessionals’ work and urged union leadership to review the specifics of the proposed agreement. The committee’s public remarks emphasized that policymaking and contract negotiation protocols limit on-the-spot bargaining during public participation.