School Committee to consider petition for parent-led NPS Academic Principles Advisory Committee

Special March 28 School Committee public hearing. Future NPS Superintendent Dr. Anna Nolin weighs in on social media.

A group of Newton Public Schools parents has signed a petition to form an Academic Principles Advisory Committee (APAC) that per the petition “will review and recommend revisions to the systemwide goals, NPS Mission Statement and any other documents guiding development and implementation of NPS curriculum, classroom instruction, and teacher professional development…” The APAC would then make non-binding recommendations to the NPS administration and School Committee. A similar, though not identical, Advisory Committee exists in the Dedham, Massachusetts school system.

By virtue of acquiring at least 50 original signatures delivered to the City Clerk, under the City Charter the School Committee must grant a hearing to consider the request. The petition was organized by ImproveNPS, whose leadership made public comments at the September 19 School Committee meeting in regard to NPS’s systemwide goals. Following that meeting, the group, then known as Engaged NPS Parents, sent this letter to the School Committee. Upon being made aware of the current petition by several elected officials, Fig City News reached out to ImproveNPS to find out more about the current petition, and Irene Katz-Margolin, Phoebe Olhava, and Toby Kumin replied to our questions on behalf of ImproveNPS. (See Q&A at the end of this article.)

The petition has already generated significant attention and debate in the community. The petition organizers have tried to raise awareness for the March 28 School Committee meeting by posting in various Newton online social media groups. The members of those groups have shared varying viewpoints regarding whether they support or disagree with the proposed formation of ACAP or a similar entity. Fig City News will not copy and publish statements from private groups, however the incoming NPS superintendent, Dr. Anna Nolin, made multiple comments in one of them. Her comments generally indicated a desire to understand the views of all stakeholders, requests for data, and a willingness to engage directly with parents in the group.

One alternate view was provided by Rielle Montague, an elementary school parent and volunteer, who stated, “I find it problematic that while highlighting their academic concerns, the Improve NPS group also appears to be organizing a concerted effort to push back against NPS DEI efforts to counter systemic racism and sustain a supportive environment for students from historically marginalized communities in the U.S. It comes across as if the group believes that supporting DEI efforts and academic excellence are mutually exclusive. Advocating for improved academic excellence and greater transparency to parents is fine and understandable, but it can be done without attacking DEI.”

Details for attending and participating in the March 28 School Committee public hearing are here.

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Q&A: Fig City News questions — and answers from ImproveNPS

FCN: In September, the petition organizers, also called Engaged NPS Parents, circulated concerns about NPS’ goals and its Values Statement. Your stated goal then was to engage the School Committee and NPS Administration on revising those goals. What has happened between then and now that led to this formal petition?

ImproveNPS: Despite our best good faith efforts, NPS leadership has not engaged in meaningful discussion to address any possible review or revision of the Systemwide Goals and Statement of Values. NPS has adopted a narrow approach to issues that concern a large majority of our community. At one meeting, signatories to the petition were told that NPS was not interested in alternative perspectives because NPS has their own internal thought leaders. We feel strongly that engaging and understanding different views would benefit students and the community as a whole.

A similar committee is in place in Dedham Public Schools, the District Curriculum Advisory. We hope that our School Committee can use that as a model when they consider our request for a community based advisory committee. Our goal is for the School Committee to create a formal structure to enable dialogue between the community and NPS.

FCN: What is the connection between concern with the NPS Values Statement on one hand, and forming an Academic Principles Advisory Committee, per the petition, on the other hand?

ImproveNPS: They are separate but overlapping issues. We would like to bring diverse perspectives on how to achieve Newton Public Schools’ stated mission of academic excellence and equity. We want to build bridges of understanding and celebrate the multiculturalism of our community. The Statement of Values mandates that “[a]ll member of the NPS community must” comply with a very specific perspective and approach on complex issues which are open to reasonable, nuanced discussion and good faith disagreement.

We believe that open discourse and thoughtful conversation can lead to a shared path forward for Newton, and feel that even with its noble intentions, the Statement of Values in its current form inhibits the discussion and chills debate. Forming an Academic Principles Advisory Committee will facilitate that review and ensure that parents and community members have a forum for expressing their views.

FCN: Other than the Superintendent Survey results, what other evidence is there that the district has “shifted away from a focus on academic excellence”?

ImproveNPS: NPS has systematically reduced the importance of academics by, among other things, de-leveling math and reducing or eliminating homework. In addition, institutional culture is hard to quantify or distill, and typically no one example or event can capture the spirit. Instead, institutional culture and priorities are illustrated in the sum of interactions, communications, policies, procedures, and the like. Many people have had conversations in innumerable contexts with parents from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives, all of whom express confusion and concern about changes at NPS. NPS may not share this view, but it is widely held within the community, and the disconnect further illustrates the need for better dialogue between NPS and the community.

FCN: School Committee members and NPS administrators have said that concerns about the direction of NPS, including the superintendent survey results, are only coming from a small portion of NPS parents. How do you know that your views are widely shared?

ImproveNPS: NPS is not hearing the people who don’t agree with them, and there is good reason to believe many community members recognize the need to build trust and open communication with NPS. We received many signatories for the petition to support the formation of the Advisory Committee with no publicity and over the course of only a few days. Several people expressed agreement but declined to sign out of concern about backlash. Given our rapid growth and peoples’ qualms at expressing alternative ideas publicly, we have every reason to believe the current number of signatories represent only a tiny portion of those who support a formal mechanism for dialogue with NPS.

In addition, we do not claim the entire community shares our particular viewpoint, or even that there is agreement on all points within ImproveNPS. Instead, there is broad and deep concern that NPS too often acts without parental and community input, and then is not responsive when parents or the community raise concerns after the fact.

Newton is a city of more than 80,000 people, with diverse opinions on the principles that should inform NPS’ educational approach, and how to prioritize when those principles conflict. It is completely unacceptable that even a single parent feels unable to express their opinion out of fear of backlash from the school system. NPS should acknowledge this failure and see the Advisory Committee as a means of restoring trust.

Many families express their dissatisfaction indirectly – private math, tutors and language programs are booming, private schools report year after year of record applications, and voters were willing to fund building new schools, but not willing to provide NPS more resources to continue to pursue its current course.

More to the point, without regular two-way communication with parents (as would be enabled through the Academic Principles Advisory Committee), how can NPS even claim to know how much of the Newton community agrees with the current approach? NPS can only benefit by listening to more voices organized and sanctioned through a partnership with the community, but unfortunately they have not yet demonstrated a sincere willingness to do so.

FCN: If your petition is granted, and the Academic Principles Advisory Committee is formed, which NPS policies do you think that Committee would immediately study?

ImproveNPS: This is a great question. While the primary goal of the Academic Principles Advisory Committee is a matter of improving the process of communication between stakeholders and NPS, ImproveNPS does have ideas for the principles and values we would like the committee to consider. Of utmost importance, NPS should foster intellectual diversity and civil discourse where students are allowed the space to think critically and explore ideas in an inclusive environment. We would hope that the committee would review what policies and priorities are influencing the NPS’ system wide goals. Our website offers more information on the academic principles that ImproveNPS promotes.