AHPA History

1974
School Aides petitioned the state for the right to bargain with the district for a contract.

1975
Our first contract went into effect on April 1, 1975. Starting pay for ALL paras was $2.50/hour.

1986
We changed our name from School Aides to Paraprofessionals

1992
Bylaws written

2005
We changed our title from Paraprofessionals to Paraeducators

2003 – 2005
The Association pursued the possibility of outside representation. Met with three different unions.

May
We voted

2007

(May 7)
Association is incorporated.

2008
Vote on 403(b) 120 YES votes and 111 NO votes (out of 802 paras)

May
AHPA Incorporated

2018

April
Turning point for AHPA – We met as a large group to discuss the challenges AHPA was facing and what steps we would need to take in order to continue on as an association.

May
Hired Attorney’s Zaidee Martin and Joel Button of Rollins, Martin & Button.
Members voted to increase our dues to $50/year ($5.00 every other paycheck) to begin in September of 2019. Our dues had been $10.00/year for the previous 47 years. They also voted for an additional, one time only, $10.00 deduction from pay to be paid to the association.

June
Janus Ruling – The Janus decision means that unions in the public sector can no longer charge non-members fair share or agency fees.

July
Negotiated and signed an MOU with the district agreeing to provide daily hours for the Association President to complete AHPA business. This MOU provided(s) 2 hours a day, hours billed back to AHPA, to conduct union business.

August
Mandatory Paraeducator Orientation and Training for new employees

2019

April
Bylaws amended – Amendments: Executive Board ability to make Policies, added Database Manager as a non-voting Executive Board Member, Executive Committee named changed to Representative Committee, Attendance requirement for Executive Board members and Representative Committee Members, Duties of Officers refined, Cluster Representative Article added, Negotiation Committee structure changed, Removal of Writing Committee, Para Rights Committee, Para Rights Officer, and Grievance Officer, Electronic voting added, Proxy/absentee voting added, “Association” and “AHPA” added

May
Negotiated and signed an MOU providing some benefit eligible positions for Bus Paras.

2020

March
Distance Learning and Daycare for essential workers

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Paraeducator numbers – a few snapshots in time.
10/1/22 993
10/1/19 1122
10/1/14 1017
10/1/08 1077
10/1/03 920
10/1/98 742
10/1/93 614
10/1/89 383