Waterford ― Valerie Metivier was the only teacher among the paraprofessionals picketing Thursday night in front of the Waterford Town Hall.

Metivier, a who has taught music at Quaker Hill Elementary School for the past seven years, said she used to be a paraprofessional, “which is part of why I’m here. I know that I can’t do my job without them.”

Metivier joined a picket line that included 19 paraprofessionals from Waterford and six from Stonington who are seeking higher wages and are currently in contract negotiations. The picketing started at about 5 p.m., and ended around 5:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the school board held their regular meeting.

“The way they get treated by these kids is unbelievable,” Metivier said about the paraprofessionals. “They’re not respected. They’re punched. They’re kicked. They’re spat on. It’s not a glamorous job.”

“And the fact that they keep coming back is amazing,” she said.

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Laura Matthewson, a 19-year paraprofessional in the Stonington school district, held a sign that said “I am not just a para,” a reference to a speech she made at a recent Stonington Board of Education meeting. She said the phrase was a reference to the many services that paraprofessionals provide to students, including educational, moral and physical support.

“They need consistency,” she said of her students. “They need routine. You know, these kids depend on us.”

“I love my job. I do my job because I love my job and I love my students that I work with, but I’m at a point where I’m going to need to consider finding other employment. And it breaks my heart, after 19 years, because I love where I work,” she added.

When asked what she would tell school officials negotiating the contracts, she said she would tell them “please help us continue to help our children.”

Colette Holmes, a former Waterford paraprofessional, agreed.

Holmes said that while working as a paraprofessional she always had to subsidize her income by working two jobs. After spending 15 years in the Waterford school district, she said her hourly pay was $19.10 an hour. She recently was forced to leave her job due to a knee injury.

The starting pay for paraprofessionals here range from $16.18 to $19.48. Some current, long-serving paraprofessionals earn $21.79, but that rate is not available for new hires. The state’s minimum wage is $15.69.

Holmes referenced that Walmart and Target starting pay is $15.95 an hour and while she did not want to discredit the hard work their employees do, she said paraprofessionals have the added responsibility of “in charge of human beings.”

“At some point it was like, I needed to start taking care of myself,” added the 48-year-old Holmes, who said she now has a job in a different line of work.

A half-hour after picketing in front of the Waterford Town Hall on Thursday night, Linda Laudone, who represents 53 local paraprofessionals as president of AFSCME Local 1303-209, told school board members she’s tired of hearing “thank you’s,” for the work she does.

She and other paraprofessionals want the courtesy of a wage increase.

She explained that last week, on a visit to the state capitol for lobby day, “where everyone stands in line outside the chamber and waits for the state legislators to come out, and listen to our pleading for higher wages,” she and union Vice President Kerry McKinzie had gone to represent Waterford’s paraprofessionals.

“Their responses were, ‘Thank you for all you do. Schools couldn’t survive with out you. You are our front lines. Students are so lucky to have you. And thank you for all the hats you wear,” she said.

“When it was closing time, the last legislator I spoke with came over and said, ‘thank you, thank you, thank you, for all that you do.’ I was tired, and stepped back, and said, ‘with all due respect, I am so tired of hearing thank you.’ I then said to her, ‘I know you appreciate us, I know the schools couldn’t do it without us, I know we are the front lines, I know we wear many hats, believe me, I appreciate all the thank you’s, however now it’s time for the action that is long overdue. So it can be our time, our turn to say thank you to you.’ ”

“Then I turned and walked away,” she recalled.

d.drainville@theday.com