School-Related Professionals gathered from across the state this winter to share their plans for new peer-to-peer mentor pilot programs, plans they’ve been carefully crafting since they were accepted into the NYSUT SRP Peer Mentoring Program last October.
Strategies varied, but the goals were the same across the board: increase SRP’s professional confidence, boost morale, improve retention, and enhance student growth.
“Our SRPs provide essential services, and in order to serve their students effectively, they need appropriate training and support,” said Ron Gross, NYSUT’s second vice president, whose office leads SRP initiatives. “The NYSUT SRP Peer Mentoring Program walks leaders through the steps of creating a mentoring program for their local and builds a community of experienced professionals to help guide the next generation of educators.”
“We want our mentees to have a sense of satisfaction. We want to imbue them with confidence so they can be more engaging, and we want to start early, so they can get involved with everything that’s happening in the union,” said Karen McLean, NYSUT SRP Advisory Committee chair and treasurer of the Herricks Teachers Association.
Launched in 2024, the NYSUT SRP Mentor Program is designed to help SRP leadership teams develop peer-to-peer mentor programs in their school districts. SRPs agree that training and mentoring are critical to recruitment and retention strategies, but few districts have programs in place.
“We are putting people in classrooms with our most vulnerable populations and there’s no training and no support for them, and that leads to high turnover,” said Katy Smith, president of the Rush-Henrietta Employees Association, Paraprofessionals Chapter in Rochester. Smith was part of the previous cohort of SRPs. She returned this year to serve as a facilitator, reviewing her peers’ plans, discussing approaches, and answering questions.
Launched last year, the mentorship plan at Rush-Henrietta includes monthly and bi-monthly in-person trainings for mentees, paired with supportive group discussions and one-on-one meetings with mentors as needed. So far, the feedback has been positive. “The mentees liked it. They said they want more,” Smith said.
For facilitator Josh Frasier, president of the Kenmore-Tonawanda School EA, the SRP mentoring program he helped launch last year represented a solution to low staff morale. For his administration, however, the program was a long-awaited answer to employee retention.
“The average cost to replace an employee is $10,000,” Frasier said. “Administrators are always fearful about budget deficits, but mentor programs are an investment. They will save districts money in the long-term.”
Frasier’s mentor program covers all 45 titles in the unit and consists of regular check-ins with a mentor as well as larger group meetings.
Despite the proven benefits, no states currently require mentoring or induction support for SRPs; 31 states require these types of support for teachers.
The Fonda-Fultonville School-Related Professionals Mentoring Program was just approved by the local school board this past Thursday after being in the works for 18 months, said Sandra Cimmino, president of the Fonda-Fultonville United Employees Association. The program is initially being rolled out to teaching assistants and teacher aides because they are student-facing, but the program will incorporate other titles shortly, she said.
The program, which requires that all new hires meet one-on-one with their mentor 30 minutes a week to discuss issues they’re encountering and set goals, has been well-received by the district, said Cimmino.
Initially, Cimmino thought administration might use the program as a bargaining chip in negotiations. “But they didn’t,” she said. “They were actually surprised that we didn’t have a mentoring program already.” In fact, the district saw so much value in the program that they approved stipends for both the program coordinator and the mentors, she said.
The in-person NYSUT training is structured to be a “for SRPs by SRPs” opportunity, with five SRP facilitators working directly with their appointed teams as well as presenting training components in the large group sessions. This model aligns with what the resulting mentoring programs should aim to be — for members by members.
From here, the locals are eligible to apply for NYSUT grant funding to launch their new mentor programs. Awards range from $5,000 to $10,000 and will help cover program costs. Applications for the next round of the NYSUT SRP Peer Mentoring Program will likely be in 2028.