One of things I really appreciate about our Mayor, even when I might disagree with a policy she’s chosen, is her level of commitment and passion to the things that move her. Just look at her advocacy for Newton Power Choice, the Webster Woods acquisition, NewCAL, the Police Reform Task Force, and others to see how she can bring in supporters and set the city off on a new direction.
How disappointing then to see her public role in what is likely to be the most important issue for the community for years to come, the reopening plan for the Newton Public Schools. What happens this year is likely to provide an inflection point in the future of the schools, leading either towards excellence or mediocrity. The result has implications well beyond the education of the children, for the result feeds into the attractiveness of Newton as a community, and as such is of interest to all residents. Yes, the Mayor serves as but one of nine School Committee members, but she has a special role among that body. She is the only one, after all, with a comprehensive view of how to meld City budgets and policy with NPS budgets and policy. Also, she is the only member of the School Committee with access to public forums–her emails, press outreach and the like–that literally reach every household in real time.
But now look at this week’s email about the changed reopening plans. The changes were dramatic, both in scope and timing, coming only a few days after another plan had been approved. And yet, as noted by in a comment by ChrissyNorthMom here on Village 14, “I’m curious as to why Mayor Fuller’s email appeared so far removed as if she had no say. She laid it out much like Mom saying “Dinner is served, if you don’t like it, don’t eat.”
I am not raising the issue here of whether the old plan, the new plan, or any other plan is the right and true one for the community. That topic has been covered in great depth on this site over and over. I am talking about how the Mayor can help us all feel reassured that the result is consistent with the values of a majority of the citizenry (whether for those with school children or not); how mid-course corrections can and will be made as facts emerge; and how there is enough communication among the decision-makers and the various interest groups that we can all have confidence that future steps will be taken with due respect and appreciation for one another. This is not just a question of using lofty language, although that is a part of the recipe. It is a question of addressing forthrightly what has emerged as a lack of confidence in our schools’ governing structure.
There is only one person who can make us all feel comfortable in the work that has taken place to date and can lead us through the next steps. But it starts with owning the process, not behaving as if she is only one vote out of nine.
Everyone who has a boss, and everyone of us who has to lead, knows exactly where you are coming from. Whether the news is good or bad, how it is conveyed matters nearly as much as the message itself.
I felt Mayor Fuller was so weak in this whole process. More about playing nice than rocking the boat. I think she failed in two distinct ways. One in not saying as the Leader of our City what do we need to do to make these plans better. What resources can I supply or how I can advocate for changes. She was very passive. I have listened to most of the School Committee meetings but sometimes in transit so I won’t say I heard every single comment but there was little or no mention of considering the Broad Institute testing project or any other broad testing approach. Overall she sat back and let the SC & NPS fail our high school students in particular. Two she didn’t come up with or push any attempts to take a creative approach to making the plans better.
I agree Paul. I had sent a similar email to the Mayor the other day. The lack of leadership and clear communications on the school reopening is so very disappointing. The Mayor should be demanding more structure around a plan that now calls for all high school students to be at home, against the State DESE guidance. The Mayor should have expected in April that a district as large as Newton would need more resources to plan for this fall. This is a difficult operational, logistical and educational challenge that will impact generations to come. The Mayor should have called for a budget analysis and emergency funding to hire help for the School Department. When this Mayor came into office, she very quickly assigned a consultant to Hello Washington St., among other consulting expenses for “visioning”. Why did she not step in now?
All of the reasons why high school is going remote have been there since March. And yet it is only now that the school department figured out that they could not offer an equitable online option for high schools or that if a majority of high school students returned that spacing might be an issue? Instead, as a result of poor planning and leadership, there was a rush to vote in a new plan, allowing only 27 hours for the School Committee and public to review. This is unacceptable, cowardly and disrespectful of not only constituents but also of the teachers and staff who will be affected by the new vote. Massachusetts has an Open Meeting Law of 48 hours and while the public notice of a vote was provided on Monday, Aug 24 at 3:30pm (within the 48 hour window of MA Open Meeting Law rules), the actual plan for the vote was only available for 27 hours. I think that short turn-around would be against the spirit and intent of why 48 hours are required notice for an open meeting.
The Mayor said last night at the School Committee meeting that high school families need a glimmer of hope that the schools would reopen. A glimmer of hope could be: leading with a real testing plan. Newton has a very low Aaa bond rating, why not work with the City Council for emergency funding for a school testing plan among other reopening safety needs?
Why not explore the pilot program that Welllesley, Brookline, Chelsea, Somerville and Revere are implementing? The “Safer Teachers, Safer Students: Back-to-School Testing Coalition” is planning to be among the first in the nation to implement a plan in which nearly 250,000 SARS-CoV-2 tests would be performed for the public schools. Newton should be part of this pilot plan. The limited reactive partnership with Newton-Wellesley Hospital for Covid testing for the school community, just announced, is not pro-active with testing and it wastes time by being a last resort option.
The time is now to lead and provide a glimmer of hope for the future of a Newton education.
For more about this Coalition and pilot plan: https://www.wellesleyeducationfoundation.org/back-to-school-testing-faqs
I was a strong supporter of Mayor Fuller in the last election. I sent her an email (in early August). No response. I don’t want to include personal content. Here is an except.
“You are the boss. We are on the verge of crisis. We need parent-focused leadership.”
“You are able to take bold action like making space available in the city to be used for classrooms. When parents look back, they will appreciate it. Education is too important.”
Glad I am not alone. I listened to her “talk” but not offer resources. She said she sent an email about the testing offered at NW hospital, for those who couldn’t get a doctor’s note. OMG. What about, we are working on getting testing for PreK-12 and do it as often as Cambridge Public Schools.
But I found that she and David Fleishman have ZERO public school students PreK-12 living at home with real concerns about health and safety. David’s monologue about he spoke as a parent was a show to me. I am living at home with one teenager, who isn’t happy at spending 170 more school days at home.
The mayor offered ZERO resources. Zero creativity. She has a TEAM of people under her.
And I am sorry, but she sent her children to private school. She never had skin in the game. She strung out the 28 nurses all summer long.
David is an employee of the city, and she could have said forcefully that she expects a plan to be in place for in person learning at the high school level by X. She didn’t. She treated him as her equal, and while he runs the schools, she is still the mayor of the city and he should have been forced to find a plan.
She could have worked TOGETHER with the schools regarding testing for Covid. She could have found the funding (and could she ask the private sector to donate). She didn’t.
Teachers want testing.
Parents want testing.
Fleishman wants a robust remote academy for high schoolers. David insisted it was a space issue for high schoolers. David didn’t budge an inch on anything.
The mayor didn’t back up the teachers or the parents. Luckily the voters can remember the weak leadership at the next election.
One reason why I didn’t support Fuller in her election is because she sent her kids to private school. As someone who sits on the school committee, I want people who are fully invested in NPS. She isn’t. She’s out of touch. I can’t help but feel like things would have been better with Lennon.
Of course things would have been better under Lennon. But about 300+/- people thought differently. Now Scott is a just a parent dealing with this mess
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/curtatone-a-color-coded-map-is-not-a-plan/
Oh dear. Today’s mayoral email says this: “High school distance learning is in place at least until the Newton Public Schools make a recommendation by Nov. 15 for a plan for in-person learning.” That’s a shiny interpretation of what happened at the School Committee meeting. Why would you say that?
If you get a chance, listen to that part of the meeting. Everyone seemed to recognize that the request for a report by that date was not at all synonymous with any assurance of in-person learning for high school students.
While the initial resolution proposed to the School Committee stated that “A target date to phase in High School in-person learning will be recommended to the School Committee by the end of November,” there was a frank discussion about setting community expectations.
“We don’t even know if it’s possible to have a target date,” noted one committee member.
So it was changed to “The feasibility of phasing in High School in-person learning will be recommended to the School Committee by the end of November.”
Then it was changed again at the Mayor’s request to “Recommendation for phasing in High School in-person learning will be presented to the school committee by the end of November.”
But even then, there was a recognition that it might not be feasible, and that, if feasible, implementation would be many weeks later.
Earlier in the meeting, the superintendent talked about the difficulty of engaging in any planning for in-place during the first six weeks of school, while the focus of the high school principals will be on getting remote learning kicked off. Also, he wanted to ensure full consultation with parents and others during those early weeks, in addition to conducting a very ambitious hiring plan.
So, to say in the email that “High school distance learning is in place at least until the Newton Public Schools make a recommendation by Nov. 15” is misleading. Based on what I heard during the meeting, the earliest it could occur is after New Year’s, if at all.
The meeting is on line here: https://newtv.org/recent-video/24-newton-school-committee-meeting/6383-school-committee-meeting-august-26-2020. The discussion on this portion of the resolution language starts at about hour 3:55. Make your own judgment.
I agree Paul. I felt that the blurb in Mayor’s newsletter was not reflective of what occurred during that meeting. In the newsletter the information was conveyed in a very unclear way and as if what occurred is not a big deal. I think some people will read the info fast and interpret it as the hs kids will also be going back to school around the Nov time frame. This idea of being remote for the foreseeable future as they termed it is just depressing so I really think they need to figure out a plan to get the kids back in school assuming our infection rate remains low. Instead of kicking the can down the road as the SC has done.
Right now I want the administration and HS staff 100% focused on making remote as good as possible at the start of the year instead of spending time on a plan that might never be executed.
The logical time to potentially resume in-person learning at the HS level (if it’s actually possible) would be for the second semester since that’s when kids get new schedules. Setting a target to have a plan by mid-November to allow that to happen seems reasonable.
Cheap, ubiquitous, instant testing might be available by then, which is the only way they can have everyone return to school, and they’ve made it clear HS is going to be an all-or-nothing scenario given the equity issues and logistical realities.
I dont really understand this whole conversation. While I do agree that we should have had a worse case scenario plan earlier, I dont disagree with the remote learning. I understand the hardship to parents, but there is a greater health concern. I dont have to remind you all that this is the first time anyone has dealt with this. It wont be perfect and it certainly won’t satisfy everyone, but come on. Give her some slack. Do you want the kids to get sick, do you want the teachers, parents, grandparents to get sick (some may die)?? It’s not perfect and we are dealing with something for the first time…adjust. Set up groups with your kids friends and allow 4-5 kids learn together, so some parents can work. Work together, don’t bicker with one another.
Also, maybe one of the parents can create a web site for resources…that was a good comment.
Tom Sheff, what a wonderful set of insights.
With so many contingencies, moving pieces, and changing conditions, it simply isn’t reasonable to expect planning of a first time event in real time to hit goals. That said, criticisms of the process are largely appropriate.
More so, while the administration and teachers have to be more creative, so to do parents.
Sorry, but cutting the Mayor slack doesn’t extend to overlooking blatant dishonesty. As the leader of the City, what she says matters. I understand that she is trying to assuage parents and other stakeholders who are upset at the way a planning and communications process has been handled. I think we can all agree that the issues are uncertain and the path forward is complicated. Bad communication and insufficient outreach, however, seem to have played a role in widespread community confusion, for parents, students, teachers. By not being honest about the outcome of the meeting, the Mayor not only holds out false hope to families, but also further undercuts confidence in the school committee’s deliberative process.
A more accurate report from her about the meeting might have said: “When pressed for a plan by mid-November, Superintendent Fleischmann noted that such a timeline would be unrealistic. He and the school principals will need to focus on getting the school year off to a good start, and those first weeks will be a critical time to focus on operations. The earliest a plan can be put together to examine the feasibility of a return to in-person high school is after the New Year. I know this is not what many parents want to hear, but given the reality of where we are at this time, it is the most likely outcome.”
That would have been a more honest description of what actually transpired at the meeting.
(She might further have acknowledged, I know parents and students and teachers are still awaiting many details about what the school day will look like. We will do all we can to come up with a good communication plan. Alas, one wasn’t discussed at the meeting.)
This community needs her, at this moment, to have integrity as a leader and to reach out to constituents. All constituents. And give people some faith that the underlying process by which decisions are made is sound. That’s the job of a mayor.
What I’ve observed in the recent school committee meetings and in the comments of some of those committee members posting on social media groups is a fractured group pulling in different directions. Read for yourself. Watch the school committee meetings. Draw your own conclusions.
I think the most enraging thing about Fuller and all of this is that this week she sent out one of her email communications with a whopping FOUR posed photo ops of herself. I can’t take it anymore. This is a really stressful time and her continued photo ops is beyond tacky.
Mayor Fuller was at the Newton South girls soccer boot camp (run with social distancing protocol) last night as a special guest. The gist of what I heard is that she told them she really wanted to see them back in school and playing sports etc, I’m guessing the photos will make her next newsletter.
It’s a pandemic and the veil is lifted for sure. When the going gets tough ..you see the peoples’ true nature. David Fleishman has completely failed us as a leader. You can blame the Mayor for where the buck stops, but Fleishman is the engineer behind this fiasco.
I figured out with my 6th grader that we don’t have enough classrooms at the HS to do socially distanced classrooms of 12 kids ea with apx 850 kids PER DAY attending. and should be removed by the Mayor. We also dont’ have enough teachers, as each class will essentially double. As DF said at SC meeting #2, many classrooms are 25 kids or more.
My 6th grader is available if David Fleishman needs more help, but hopefully he will be gone soon. The Mayor could redeem herself by removing him immediately.
@NewMath Mom,
What authority do you think the Mayor has to remove the Superintendent ? The Mayor has one vote on the School Committee. The Superintendent is hired by the School Committee which in addition to hiring the superintendent, is in charge of policies for the district in accordance with State and Federal laws. The administrative staff are responsible for creating protocols and procedures for implementing those policies.