Paul Levy will not run for re-election.
The March 24 School Committee meeting, similar to meetings over the prior two weeks, was devoted to the Fiscal Year 2026 (academic year Fall 2025 – Spring 2026) Newton Public Schools (NPS) budget. The meeting began with over 45 minutes of public comment by educators and parents making various cases primarily to Mayor Fuller to increase the City’s FY 2026 budget allocation to NPS in order to meet Superintendent Anna Nolin’s requested “Level Service+” funding request.
These comments followed similar ones made predominantly by educators at the School Committee’s March 19 public budget hearing, including from Bruce Hedison, a Newton resident who has launched a campaign website to be a School Committee representative. Mr. Hedison lives in Ward 7 (Chestnut Hill and Ward School area), according to the address given during his public comment, and stated he worked in Hudson, MA for 33 years, including as a union president. He cited NPS students still recovering from the effects of Covid-19 and stated “it is not fair what happened …but we just need to move forward from today and be there for our kids.” Two hours later, toward the end of that March 19 meeting, Committee Chair Chris Brezski (Ward 2) alluded to that and other comments about the effects of Covid and stated that many student needs today derive from decisions made by “the nine people sitting in this room” during the pandemic [meaning the School Committee during 2020-2021].
The March 24 School Committee debate included Dr. Nolin’s attempt to detail how a further $3.7 million reduction — i.e., the present gap between the Level Service+ budget and the City’s allocation — would be implemented. The final slide 70 of the Superintendent’s budget presentation showed the breakout of only $2.4 million of expense reductions — including 27.5 additional layoffs across elementary classroom teachers, special education aides, and social-emotional learning specialists — however Dr. Nolin stated that the staff was unable at that time to specify the final $1.3 million of cuts to meet the current City allocation without further direction by the School Committee over which areas, such as music or theater, should be reduced.
Dr. Nolin also raised the issue of “bumping” when NPS must proceed with layoffs, since due to contractual rules, an employee with seniority who is asked to leave may “bump” another, more junior, employee to be terminated in their place. Dr. Nolin later clarified to Fig City News that bumping may occur either within the same “Unit” of employees, or downstream from Unit A (teachers) to Unit B (primarily non-principal administrators), to Unit C (mostly child-facing support specialists such as aides and interventionists). The more senior employee originally terminated would then fill the role of the more junior employee who had been bumped out. Due to this dynamic, a budget that envisions terminating a certain number of employees may result in affecting the positions of more than that number.
The ensuing discussion over 2.5 hours continued the themes of whether “one-time” expenses could be funded with Free Cash from the City’s budget, and whether or not the School Committee was able to approve a budget in excess of the City’s allocation with the expectation of post-approval increases in funding. Toward the end of the discussion, Dr. Nolin, her staff, and Mayor Fuller agreed to meet on Tuesday March 25 to discuss incrementally additional items the City could fund with either its Free Cash balance or other funds, although the Mayor reiterated, alongside being flexible on particular expense items, that it would not be nearly enough to close the entire $3.7 million gap. Mayor Fuller’s comments during the meeting referenced the needs of other City departments, the City’s relatively low Free Cash balance versus the state’s recommended reserves as a percentage of total budget, and the existing increase of over $10 million for the NPS FY 2026 allocation over the current year.
Mr, Brezski concluded the meeting with a strong statement in favor of approving Dr. Nolin’s recommended budget despite it being above the current City allocation. Earlier in the meeting, Barry Greenstein (Ward 8) supported this approach, while other Committee members — including Emily Prenner (Ward 5), Paul Levy (Ward 6), and most strongly Tamika Olzsewski (Ward 4) — insisted the School Committee should not do this.
Mr. Brezksi’s statement expressed frustration in his perception of City leadership’s lack of progress in addressing the multiyear NPS structural deficit stemming from the City’s revenue growth rate combined with pension obligations, and he alluded to the time when he and Dr. Nolin addressed the City Council “last April” to discuss these issues. Mr. Brezski said to the School Committee, “It’s solvable; it just takes the damn will to want to solve it.” He further stated:
“We are fiscally unsustainable, and that can be solved by finding more money or …cutting our expenses, but what you’re seeing [in draft FY 2026 service cuts] is educationally unsustainable. People in Newton are never going to accept that, and they shouldn’t, because it doesn’t have to be that way. …We have to be fiscally sustainable, but we [also] have to have sustainability in the services we provide our kids.”
In advocating to proceed with his suggestion of passing the Level Service+ budget, funded with an increased City allocation for FY 2026 followed by longer term steps to address the structural deficit, he further stated “People elected us to take that risk …to assess whether that’s the appropriate risk”. The meeting replay is on NewTV, with Mr. Brezski’s remarks beginning just after the video’s hour 3:12 mark.
Upcoming meetings
The next School Committee budget meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 2, which is the first day newly elected Ward 7 representative Alicia Piedalue will have been sworn in and able to serve as a Committee member.
Additionally, a Community Budget Meeting has been scheduled by Superintendent Anna Nolin at Brown Middle School for Thursday March 27 at 6:30PM.
Paul Levy declines to pursue re-election
On the morning of Tuesday March 25, School Committee representative Paul Levy (Ward 6) informed the Committee and Superintendent of his decision not to run for re-election in November, meaning his tenure will end on December 31, 2025. Mr. Levy cited his desire to spend these “precious times” with his young son and the rest of his family. He further wrote:
I am making this announcement now to give potential candidates time to consider running, but I am also doing it this week so that there is no hint that my vote on the school budget next week might be influenced by any electoral factors.
I treasure the time we have spent together in support of our children and teachers. I have learned so much from each and every one of you, and I am grateful. And for those in the community who have supported me, and for many new friends, I am truly blessed.
— Paul Levy, School Committee Representative, Ward 6
Ed. Note: The author of this article gave public comment during this meeting, in his capacity as an NPS parent, not a Fig City News writer.
