New Memorial-Spaulding Principal hired. Ultimate Frisbee becomes an official sport.
The February 10 School Committee meeting began with a full slate of public commenters, filling the 30 minutes allowed for comment and addressing varied topics such as:
- Elementary playground accessibility at Williams and Mason-Rice for special-needs students,
- Criticism of Superintendent Anna Nolin’s update memorandum regarding ‘multilevel’ classes (discussed below),
- Whether Diwali should be observed as a Newton Public Schools (NPS) holiday, and
- Three students who spoke on behalf of ultimate frisbee being recognized as an NPS high school sport.
Notably, multiple students, staff members, and parents addressed the playground accessibility issue, particularly in regard to students participating in the Williams Elementary School Reflections Program.
The regular agenda began with the Superintendent’s update regarding student assessment progress and the related issue of whether current multilevel class structures will be retained in the future. A seven-page memorandum from the Superintendent to the School Committee was posted in the public meeting materials prior to February 10. In that memo, the concerns about multilevel classrooms raised by a group NPS educators, including Newton South’s faculty council, as well as several NPS parent petitioners and public commenters during prior meetings, were characterized as “not productive.” Ryan Normandin — a Newton South math and science teacher featured in Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal editorials* advocating for restoring traditional class levels in math, science, and world languages — criticized that memo during his public comment that evening as “disrespecting” Newton educators.
Dr. Nolin’s comments to the School Committee pertaining to the memo included:
- Reiteration of her prior statements regarding the lack of pre-existing student academic assessments to inform students’ class placements,
- The wide dispersion of student ability following the Covid pandemic (during which NPS lagged behind neighboring school districts in returning students to in-person learning), which makes it challenging to properly assign students to leveled classes
- This year’s math curriculum audit and plans for curriculum audits of other subjects, and
- Ongoing community engagement work.
New information shared included a graphic forecasting “Steps towards Future State of Course Levels” being ready in the spring of 2026 — which implies any classroom changes beginning in Fall 2026 — and a relatively balanced comparison of “misconceptions” Dr. Nolin has heard from parents and educators.
In their follow-up comments to Dr. Nolin’s report, the School Committee did not address that concerned parents and educators main factual points were not necessarily in conflict with Dr. Nolin’s, although the two sides’ perceptions varied regading the risks to faster versus slower change. Several School Committee members conveyed a concerted effort to unwaveringly support Dr. Nolin, and did not acknowledge the dissenting educators and parents views regarding the multilevel classes or attempt to bridge perspectives. In order of speaking: Paul Levy (Ward 6), Anping Shen (Ward 3), Tamika Olszewski (Ward 4), and Rajeev Parlikar (Ward 1) endorsed Dr. Nolin’s memorandum and plan of action. Mr. Parlikar further stated that the Boston Globe quoting his statement “I actually have not heard from a single parent who thought their child benefited from being in a multilevel class” made during a November public School Committee meeting was taken “out of context” and that the article was an “op-ed masquerading as journalism.”
Mayor Fuller questioned the timing of potential changes, specifically in regard to middle school, which may require curriculum changes a school year ahead of when the high schools experience changes, in order for coursework to be integrated across grade levels. In response, Dr. Nolin shared that due to prioritizing the math curriculum audit and the NPS budget allocating relevant funding, NPS may “have recommendations that will solve things right away for next year.” The discussion turned more positive at this point, with Mayor Fuller acknowledging the progress to date in the K-5 reading curriculum, and Dr. Nolin stating that reading assessments thus far this year do not show a performance drop that would be typical when a new curriculum is first implemented.
In other topics addressed:
- Jany Yadoff was announced to be the new Memorial-Spaulding elementary school principal, beginning the next school year. She presently is the principal of Peirce elementary in Brookline, MA.
- The Committee discussed the most recent Enrollment Analysis Report.
- The Committee voted to approve Dr. Nolin’s recommendation for a new Competency Determination in lieu of MCAS for the district’s high school Class of 2025 graduation requirements.
The meeting replay is available on NewTV, with the substantial curriculum discussion occurring during minutes 35:27 to 1:18:00.
*Wall Street Journal editorial cited Fig City News coverage of this topic
Ed Note: The original publication of this article incorrectly stated that Mr. Parlikar was referring to Mr. Normandin’s Boston Globe op-ed during his comments at the February 10th 2025 School Committee meeting. He was referring to a different Boston Globe article published by another writer.
