Also discussed: Cabot Split to Bigelow and Day
The December 5th regularly scheduled School Committee meeting began with two public commenters from the Newton Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative, who spoke about the need for more student and community education about gun safety. They cautioned that increased security presence inside school buildings could lead to negative outcomes.
Following public comment, NPS Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education Toby Romer, Newton Police Department Chief John Carmichael, and Newton Fire Department Chief Greg Gentile gave a School Safety Presentation that lasted over an hour, including Q&A from the Committee. The presentation reviewed in-school safety drills, the role of school safety teams, and the NPS Emergency Operations Plan.
School Committee member Anping Shen (Ward 3) cited the May 2022 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which reports that 21% of NPS high school students have carried a weapon to school in the 30 days prior to the survey (page 18 of survey results linked above). He asked whether there had been any incidents of guns in NPS. NPD Chief Carmichael and Superintendent Kathy Smith both replied no and said that state law would mandate the reporting of such incidents. Committee member Chris Brezski (Ward 2) asked whether NPS is considering the use of student key cards in order to access Newton’s “open campus” high schools, which presently any person can enter from the outside. Assistant Superintendent Romer said that information was being gathered from the schools, however issuance of key cards is not imminent. His School Safety and Planning Update memorandum to the School Committee can be found here.
Steven Rattendi, Director of Information Technology and Library Services, concluded the safety presentations by discussing NPS cybersecurity in this memorandum.
Following the safety update, Assistant Superintendent Liam Hurley gave another update regarding the district’s plan to reverse declining enrollment at Bigelow Middle School. NPS is recommending the “Cabot Split” option, which would divert approximately half of Cabot Elementary School’s 5th grade graduates to Bigelow instead of attending Day Middle School, as they would have in the past. This change is forecasted to increase Bigelow’s projected 2028 enrollment from 380 students to 506 students.
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