School may be out, but several issues of concern to NPS parents remain top-of-mind for educators, parents, and administrators. NTA contract negotiations, lunch pricing, and Ward/Underwood planning remain unresolved. Contract Negotiations As previously covered by Fig City News, the current contract with the Newton Teachers Association expires on August 31.…
Posts published by “Adam Bernstein”
New Newton Public Schools Superintendent Anna Nolin has sent a memorandum to the School Committee recommending that the Underwood and Ward Task Force be “concluded” without issuing further guidance to the community about the future of the two schools. During the June 12 School Committee meeting, the Task Force issued…
The School Committee met on Tuesday June 20 for its last meeting of the 2022-2023 academic year. The meeting began with public commenters continuing to address the budget cut of the Understanding Our Differences program and the City’s negotiations with the Newton Teachers Association. The agenda began with a warm…
Rajeev Parlikar (Ward 1) expresses displeasure with quality of NPS Special Education The June 12 School Committee meeting contained a busy agenda, including discussion regarding school lunches, the future of Ward and Underwood elementary schools, a presentation from the Special Education Parent Advisory Council, and a review of the 2022-2023…
The scheduled May 22nd School Committee contained a lengthy discussion, postponed from the May 8th meeting due to time constraints, about NPS Advanced Placement (AP) courses and student performance therein. Katy Hogue (Director of Data Analysis), Toby Romer (Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education), Henry Turner (Newton North High School Principal)…
NTA President Michael Zilles Discusses Negotiation Process with Fig City On Monday, May 14, the Newton Teacher’s Association (NTA) began a modified “Work To Rule” contract action, which is described on the NTA website as educators taking one day per week to be unavailable, outside of contracted work hours, for…
Advanced Placement Classes: Agenda Item Tabled Until May 22 The regular May 8 School Committee meeting contained a busy agenda, including presentations regarding Science & Technology Education (STE) and History & Social Studies curriculum, the formation of state-mandated School Councils, and a detailed analysis and presentation on Advanced Placement (AP)…
To begin the April 27 School Committee meeting, two Bigelow Middle School educators were among the public comment speakers to advocate for staff restoration to address the middle school team sizes. Superintendent Kathy Smith followed the public comment period by giving her scheduled update, during which she congratulated the central…
During a special meeting on Tuesday, April 25, the School Committee voted to accept Mayor Fuller’s in-meeting proposal to transfer responsibility for making Newton Public Schools (NPS) employees’ Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) contributions from the NPS budget to the City budget. This proposal effectively rejected Ward 2 representative Chris Brezski’s…
Following the April 3 School Committee meeting, during which member Chris Brezski (Ward 2) proposed alternative methods to increase available funds for NPS, the School Committee met two more times in the past week to hear more detailed presentations from NPS administrators regarding how they will manage anticipated budget cuts.…