NPS administrators, School Committee continue robust debate on System Wide Goals

Revised draft of Goals spurs additional questions

On Wednesday September 7, NPS administrators submitted a revised version of System Wide Goals for the 2022-2023 academic year. The previous five-page draft was discussed during the August 8 meeting, while the new draft expands to 13 pages across the same three categories: Education, Family and Community Communication, and Operations. Interim Superintendent Kathy Smith began the discussion by stating that she expects the School Committee and the community to again revise these goals alongside a new full-time superintendent upon their hire.

The majority of the discussion focused on the Education section of the goals, which was divided into Academic Excellence, Educational Equity, and Social Emotional Wellbeing. The ongoing debate about NPS’s commitment to academic excellence was reflected in the discussion. School Committee member Rajeev Parlikar (Ward 1) opened the questioning by stating the Academic Excellence goals did not explicitly include a commitment to addressing the needs of high-achieving students. Supporting his point, the language in the Academic Excellence sub-section appears to focus primarily on equitable outcomes rather than on raising student performance. Further, the Educational Equity draft goals call for continued elimination of certain honors classes via “Continue to support multi-level groupings.”  Assistant Superintendent Toby Romer disagreed with Mr. Parlikar and cited the phrase “challenging academic content” in one of the Excellence sub-sections.

School Committee members Emily Prenner (Ward 5), Paul Levy (Ward 6), Kathy Shields (Ward 7), and Cove Davis (Ward 8) noted the need for the NPS administrators to measure progress of stated goals throughout the year. Ms. Prenner noted that the goals were written in “edu-speak” and may not be understood by the broader Newton community. School Committee member Chris Brezski (Ward 2) questioned whether some of the language in the Educational Equity section, such as the phrase “social justice,” carried a political connotation in the current environment. Mr. Romer and Assistant Superintendent Ayesha Farag stated that the phrase was intended to align with the District’s reading curriculum. Mr. Brezski also questioned whether striving for greater equity meant “collapsing up” instead of “collapsing down” student performance. The NPS administrators did not comment on that distinction.

Committee Chair Tamika Olszewski (Ward 4) generally allowed the debate to unfold and gave the members enough time to complete their questioning.  Ms. Olszewski’s comments aligned with Dr. Smith’s and focused on the ongoing opportunity to discuss the goals during the school year.

Ms. Farag appeared to make the majority of the administrators’ responses to the School Committee’s comments. She had earned a reputation during last year’s school re-opening for working long hours to ensure adequate building staffing, and during the meeting she displayed deep knowledge of Newton’s school district, and a passion for ensuring “equitable outcomes” among the student population. However, based on responses by her and the other administrators, it remains to be seen to what extent the School Committee’s feedback will be reflected in the next version of the System Wide Goals.

The replay of the September 7 meeting is available on NewTV.