School workers reach agreement on a new contract with the Croton-Harmon district after a year of negotiations.

Effective February 1, teacher and health aides, lunch monitors, security monitors, and food service helpers will receive up to two dollars or more per hour, depending on years of service.

Editor’s Note: On Tuesday of this week, the roughly 65 members of Aides of Croton United (ACU) ratified a new contract, after working for roughly nine months without one. That was because the aides and the school district had been unable to arrive at an agreement despite many months of negotiations, and ended up having to go into mediation. After the last mediation session on March 20, the two sides were able to reach a deal.

We will have a more detailed report on the new contract soon. But the highlights include a new wage scale for the school workers that is considerably better than the previous one. For example, for aides with one to five years of service, wages will go up to $19.00/hour from a previous $17.66; they will go up another 50 cents on July 1 of this year and again on July 1 of 2026. For aides with six or more years of service, wages will increase from $17.88/hour to $20.00/hour, again with two additional 50 cent increases over the course of the contract.

The new contract expires on June 30, 2027.

The ACU Executive Board has provided us with the following statement. As Chronicle readers know, we have editorialized consistently in favor of these low paid workers.

“On March 20, 2024 the bargaining process for the ACU’s contract with the district began. On March 20, 2025 we finally came to an agreement.

It was a long and arduous journey, but one that the aides were willing to take a chance on. The fact that we were willing to hold out so long, proves the dedication that we have for our students and the passion that we have toward our positions.

There are so many that we would like to give thanks to.  The Croton Community, for their unwavering support, with a special shout out to Michael Ranis.  Our building administrators, along with all of the teachers, have always supported us and we appreciate you all so very much.

Last, but not least, we would like to acknowledge and thank The Croton Chronicle.  Without it, we would not have had an outlet to plead our case to the public.  Thank you, Michael Balter, for believing in us and our cause.”

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