School Committee Update

Dear Friends,

This update is for the 6/10/2019 Newton School Committee meeting:

Superintendent Update:

  • Both NNHS and NSHS hosted successful graduation ceremonies. Good luck to the Class of 2019!

Agenda Items:

  • Liam Hurley, Assistant Superintendent of Finance, and Josh Morse, Newton’s Public Buildings Commissioner. presented a facilities update focused on the Newton Early Childhood Program building. Initial cost estimates are over budget so they are exploring options to reduce costs. One key cost is the two classrooms planned to be constructed by infilling the gym. An exterior addition will now be considered. It was noted that none of these changes will affect the plan to have air conditioning, a separate van drop-off loop, and an appropriate playground.
  • Toby Romer, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education, presented a School Start Time, Schedule and Transportation Update. Three options were presented for possible shifts to the start time with a goal set of implementing a new start time by Fall of 2020. Steps to get there include community input and negotiating a successful contract with the NTA. The start time presentationoutlines the three options. For a deeper dive, please see the full transportation report.
  • Newton Special Education Parents Advisory Council (SEPAC) co-chairs Christine Carey and Rajeev Parlikar, presented an End of Year Report.  They also referenced a more detailed report which covered broad  themes, success and areas of improvement.
  • The NPS administrative team gathered to share several year-end reports including Superintendent’s Goals and Systemwide Goals. The School Committee will discuss these in greater detail at the next scheduled meeting.

Consent Agenda

  • The School Committee voted unanimously to re-elect Diana Fisher Gomberg as the EDCO Board Member.
  • The School Committee voted unanimously to approve several grants.
  • The School Committee voted unanimously to approve the 5/13/2019 minutes.

Next Meeting

On Monday June 17 at 7:00pm, we will hear a Fiscal and Operational Update, a Facilities Update, an Equity Committee Update and an Equity Working Group Update. We will also be discussing the Superintendent’s Assessment.

We hope you found this summary useful. You can access all School Committee meeting documents via the NPS website (www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee). Additionally, if you are interested in watching an SC meeting from home or a recorded meeting, you can obtain access via www.newtv.org. On the district Facebook page, you can find videos of past “Virtual Office Hours,” which are held once a month and provide the community with the opportunity to ask questions through the Facebook Live format.

As always, we are very happy to answer any questions or discuss any concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact us via the email address below.

The Newton School Committee