NTA Lawsuits Resolve and Evolve, Assistant Superintendent Departs.
On Monday February 12, Mayor Fuller, School Committee Chair Brezski, and Newton Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Nolin conducted a public meeting with the entire City Council. The meeting’s topics included discussion of the provisions of the recent contract agreement with the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) and Dr. Nolin’s continued highlighting of NPS strengths, as well as systemic deficiencies that had worsened under previous superintendents. These findings were generally consistent with the Entry Plan Analysis that Dr. Nolin released to the School Committee in November 2023.
Key parts of Chair Brezski’s and Superintendent Nolin’s presentation included a forecasted NPS funding gap during Fiscal Years 2030-2032 (when dedicated surplus overlay funding to NPS runs out, but before anticipated City pension contributions begin to decline in 2033) and a basic illustration showing the School Committee’s belief that ongoing growth in NPS students’ needs is exceeding annual growth in City revenue.
After the initial presentation of about 30 minutes, the next 90 minutes of the meeting consisted of Q&A among the Mayor, Superintendent, and School Committee Chair, and the City Councilors. Councilor Becky Grossman (Ward 7) began the Q&A portion by telling the presenters, “What you went through these past several weeks …I just want you to know how personally grateful I feel [and] I think that’s a common sentiment,” followed by applause in the Council chamber. Councilor Grossman then asked Mr. Brezski and Mayor Fuller several questions to clarify the forecasted future funding gap.
Other topics asked in questions from the Councilors included:
- Class sizes for high school math and science (Councilor Gentile),
- Possible growth in the annual City allocation to NPS and the potential for a future override (Councilor Albright),
- Increasing costs alongside declining enrollment (Councilor Lucas),
- The future of the Ward and Underwood school buildings (Councilor Leary),
- Teacher retention (Councilor Krintzman),
- Avoiding future strikes (Councilor Micley),
- Measurement tools and metrics for ensuring taxpayers are getting expected results (Lobovits), and
- The importance of public education to society at large (Councilor Baker).
Notably on the topic of teacher retention, in response to Councilor Krintzman’s question, Dr. Nolin stated that there has been “a lot of misinformation about how many open positions there are” and shared that presently there are only 12 open positions out of 2,100 systemwide jobs. Of those 12, 8 are paraprofessional, and 4 are anticipated positions due to upcoming maternity leaves. Dr. Nolin noted that certain types of educators are in short demand across the state, including special education teachers, psychologists, and math, physics, and chemistry teachers.
The meeting replay is available on NewTV.
Leadership Change
On February 16, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education and Special Programs Toby Romer announced that he will be leaving NPS at the end of this school year to become the Executive Director of the Foxborough Regional Charter School. In his email announcing his resignation, Mr. Romer wrote to his colleagues and to the School Committee, “I look forward to leading this highly diverse, urban/suburban K-12 school system and am eager to apply all that I have learned here with you in a new context.” Mr. Romer was hired in 2015 by former Superintendent David Fleishman.
Courtroom News
On February 20, Middlesex County Superior Court announced several rulings that closed the filings and motions made during the Teachers Strike. Of the $625,000 in total fines accrued by the NTA during the strike, the court elected to divert $275,000 to be payable to Newton Public Schools, with the remaining $350,000 due to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Court also dismissed the recently filed parent lawsuits as “moot” since they had been attached to the filings by the School Committee and CERB. However, the same group of parents has filed a new class action lawsuit against the NTA, Michael Zilles, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and the National Education Association.
The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 26.