Twelve members of the City Council sent a memo this morning to the Mayor and School Committee raising concerns about the handling of the Newton School re-openings. Ruth Goldman, chair of the School Committee responded. Both are below:
2case, it is important that you publicly explain to the school community why that was done and renegotiate the contracts if needed.Put simply, when the needs of Newton children are not being met, it is up to us to figure out how to meet their needs, even during these difficult times
I was just forwarded an email that a number of you have signed addressed to the SC and the Mayor. Before you press send, I wanted to encourage you to reconsider for a couple of reasons: the memo is filled with misinformation (see below), the memo does not lend itself to the collaborative spirit that you reference at the end of the memo, is not in the best interests of anyone (parents, students, NPS, Council or School Committee), and beyond all this, is outside your purview, as those of you who have been on School Committee well know.
While SC is grateful for CC’s support – financial and otherwise – the whole notion that City Council should weigh in on SC business right now, as if there is some oversight function for schools, is really undermining to all that we are doing in the middle of a pandemic to meet all the needs of our students.
The memo references a “lack of urgency” – I’m not sure what urgency looks like to you. NPS has been working round the clock and continues to do so. If urgency looks like stressed out yelling and screaming, then, you won’t see that at NPS or at School Committee. We continue to set and meet goals set in August: opening 15 elementary schools and 1 pre-school on time for robust in person and distance learning models. We have other districts asking us about our distance model because it is much better learning model for students than what we are seeing in other districts. At Middle and High, we wanted to perfect our Distance model before moving to in-person, because we knew [suspected instead of knew?] that we’d end up in distance at some point this year. Our distance model in Middle schools has been very effective and some parents have expressed a desire to stay with the remote plan. However, our goal has always been to move to hybrid MS by Nov. 16th and we are on track to do so. At high school, our early planning efforts met a lot of road blocks. So, the goal shifted to providing a robust distance model and again, we are getting very good feedback from students and teachers about the program. We now have a high school planning team that will recommend an in person model in time for full implementation in January. Finally, we have a myriad of special education students in school or in robust distance plans that are creative and meet all their needs through an enormous outlay of work by our staff at all levels. I had the good fortune to visit the Newton Early Childhood Program a couple of weeks ago and it was tremendous. I cannot say enough good words about the faculty and leadership in this program.
For the record, Newton opened more schools ON TIME than any other district in the state. To date, we still have more schools open than many other districts in the state. We are also getting very good feedback about our elementary and middle school models. We have heard from parents and teachers that elementary is going well; teachers and families are feeling safe in the buildings and learning is robust. Our DLA Kindergarten team has adjusted the schedule to provide more whole class instruction since there are aids in every class and they can split the group in two a lot. And, many families are pleased with the distance program at both middle and high – we even heard some families say they want to remain in distance at the middle school.
To address some of the inaccuracies in your memo:
Elementary: we are working and should have a plan for full day K and possibly 1 & 2 by the end of this month. We, like every other district in the state, have not been able to hire the additional teaching aids that were planned. However, we are switching gears, making the younger kids a priority (we are hearing good things from 3 – 5) and creating a new model. NPS never said it had been postponed indefinitely and there are some advantages to the Newton model vs. the model in other districts which will be part of the elementary update presentation next Monday.
Middle Schools: We continue to work on opening the Middle Schools and do have a date: November 16th – it hasn’t changed and has been set since August. We do have a staffing plan and we expect to have enough teachers and additional staff to ensure all classrooms are supervised even if the teacher is unable to be in the classroom.
High School: the Task Force members are working and meeting 10 – 60 hours/week for two weeks. The survey for families, teachers and students has gone out and they are building a matrix of models that are happening across the state, as well as CT and NY. They are also beginning to figure out implementation “needs” as they do their planning work so we will be ready to go after SC votes, likely the Dec. 2 meeting. They are preparing a recommendation for the Nov. 16th meeting, and there is an update next Monday as well. I expect that even if we are not voting by Dec. 2nd, the direction will be clear and we can begin moving ahead with implementation tasks.
MOA: The NTA did not agree to be on the HS Working Group but they have been collaborative around a number of tasks and there are 3 members of the NTA on the Task Force. We are about to sign an MOA for the current set of plans and have already begun negotiating the Middle School hybrid plan and will do so with high school, once there is a plan. SC does not see the NTA as standing in the way of this important work.
We all certainly can acknowledge that there are a lot of angry parents and constituents right now. It is an angry and contentious time in our country and people are scared, stressed out and worried about the future, never mind a long cold, dark winter with limited interaction with our beloved friends, family and neighbors. It’s bleak right now. As City leaders, it is important for us to remain calm, work hard and address all the challenges thoughtfully, conscientiously and with good intentions. We need to support each other and ask how we can be most helpful. I am telling you all unequivocally, this memo is not helpful, supportive or as I’m sure you hoped, well intentioned.
The School Committee welcomes your collaboration and support. We are always happy to discuss how best to work together and welcome that conversation.
Thank you,
Ruth
Ruth Goldman
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
As a teacher, I would love to hear from parents what their biggest hope is for in-person learning. My hope is that social emotional needs are the number one reason for moving in person, because academics are going to suffer by a move at the middle and high school levels to in-person learning. I completely recognize and support the social emotional needs of children being in school, but want to make sure we are on the same page here – academics will not improve with a move to in person learning. At the middle school level specifically, students will lose 75 minutes per subject per week with their teacher when we transition.
Note: The earlier version of the memo from City Council members has been updated with a newer version that includes 12 signatories.
As a parent of a freshman, I would be “satisfied” with one in person day a week. My kid hasn’t met any “new” peers, and often is in a zoom with faces she doesn’t know. While she is learning academics, the pace is slower than real person. BUT, the break out rooms are awkward. She told me she has a special “zoom face.” She doesn’t want to appear too happy or too mad, so she keeps the same face all day long on screen time. 🙁 Makes me sad. She eats lunch alone. No facetime with old classmates during lunch. I want her to meet her classmates in person. She said at least last year she knew each student in her class before they went remote. She said remote learning is better than the spring. The high school hours are long (90 minute blocks might have been better in person than remote). But she is struggling and I am concerned about the winter. Can she really keep this pace up emotionally being alone. Out of the four people in our house, she is the most social. My husband and my son could be happy being remote. But not my freshman daughter.
The social workers at school have no ideas for lunch groups, social interactions, etc. Basically, I think unless my kid has depression or suicidal thoughts, the social worker isn’t going to do anything. Luckily we aren’t there, but I am concerned that more kids will become more and more isolated. While we have heard of kids gathering at Crystal Lake (and other locations) during the summer, there are a vast number of kids at home, and socially distancing, that are suffering silently – alone.
My kid would volunteer to be at school more than one day a week, but I would take that now. She would take more, and I would give her as much as we think we can do while the positivity rate in Newton is less than 5% or there is no community spread in her high school.
@NPS Teacher–I think many parents believe that their children will access material much more effectively in person and that in person connections with teachers and other students is critical for their mental health and their education. In addition, I believe that our community will continue to advocate for more in person time than is currently planned. But it appears that we need to take baby steps, and getting kids back in the buildings for as much time as is feasible as soon as possible is step 1.
I applaud the City Council letter. It’s about time. Many of these Councillors have kids in our schools as well. I’m certain that it wasn’t signed lightly. Also, Councillor Laredo once chaired the School Committee. I’m sure that he understands the roles of the City Council vs. the School Committee.
I appreciate everyone’s efforts, I really do. But a lot of what Ruth Goldman writes doesn’t track to what I have seen, or many others. Last I checked attendance reporting in Aspen was still disabled…you can’t even look to see if your kid is actually online. I completed the HS survey. None of the questions raised issues about the hours of class time being different between hybrid vs. remote. If this is true it’s a factor that I’d like to have been asked about.
But my biggest comment is about communications. A lot of what Ruth writes in her reply I’ve not heard before. I think that’s a problem. I hosted a thread about why the NTA isn’t participating in the HS Working Committee? Ruth writes that this isn’t a big deal, that they’re still actively engaged in the process. Fine….but how would anyone know this?
@Newton Teacher:
Parents were told that it was ok that hybrid students would not have direct instruction when their opposite, in-person cohorts were at school because in person instruction is so much more efficient. I don’t think any parent envisioned a plan that involved independent study for 11 year olds as a significant component of getting back to school. Evidently finding a creative way to fill that time was too much to ask for.
Are your comments that academics will suffer as part of the move to hybrid a talking point that other teachers agree with and have been disseminating? It’s alarming to say the least.
@Craig – We are worried that parents don’t realize the trade off that in-person learning has for academics and are afraid of the backlash about that. If parents are aware about change in academics, then that’s completely fine! We just want to make sure parents understand that at this point, in-person schooling is about the social aspect, which is so important!
As someone mentioned above, at the middle school level, no direct instruction or new material will be introduced in person. Many teachers are just worried that parents may have not been informed of this, and are afraid of the backlash when they realize what in-person schooling really is.
I love how SC and NPS always say they work around the clock to get schools open. I am sure other districts worked as hard but managed to get their schools open in September/October. I think this response just makes NPS sound even more incapable to get things done! Opening high school only In January is too late!
@ Newton Teacher I’m sorry–can you please clarify what you said about new material NOT being introduced during in person learning? That has not been shared with parents and I’m very unclear as to why that would be prevented. I believe what Craig mentioned above is that the school district stated that it was ok that there was more asynchronous learning on the home days because learning would be more efficient on the in-school days, not that there would not be new material presented in person. If possible, please direct us to communications from the school district where we could learn about what will and will not be taught in-person.
@Concerned parent – because of the way that the model is structured, we only see half of our students from each class in the morning in hybrid. Therefore, we were told that the direct instruction (and new material) will occur during the 30 minute remote classes in the afternoon during which we will see our entire class together. The in-person time will be for teachers to work with students on skill development and work on reading and writing conferences, math and science practices and problem solving, etc. All of this is valuable work! I would reach out to your building principal. Ours has been very transparent with parents about what the in-person classes will look like!
Chairperson Goldman says, regarding full in-person elementary, “NPS never said it had been postponed indefinitely.” So, when did NPS say it will resume?
It’s not that complicated. The 7-12 grade students should have a hybrid “synchronous” experience. Half of the class is in person on Monday, with the other half remote and watching the class instruction in real time. Class schedules are the same for the in person group and the remote group. The remote students can participate/ask/questions, etc. On Tuesday, the roles are switched. This is the way many suburban school district have modeled the hybrid learning in CT and NY.
@NNHS Parent The feedback I’ve heard from all teachers involved in this type of model is that it isn’t working for student learning. If we had lecture style classes, sure, but education isn’t lecture based anymore so streaming kids in doesn’t work. Teachers can’t give feedback properly to the in-person and remote kids simultaneously.
Can someone explain SPECIFICALLY why “academics are going to suffer” when/if the high schools go to in-person learning? I understand that the elementary schools are only in-person in the mornings – would that be true at the high school level as well? If so, why? In Wellesley, they are doing full day in-person with Cohort A Monday/Thursday and Cohort B Tuesday/Friday. Wednesdays are remote for everyone, half-day. At-home days are “a blend of synchronous & asynchronous online learning and self-directed offline learning.”
It is truly hard to believe that the SC is getting good feedback from high school students. Despite the effort and creativity of the teachers in trying to break things up a bit, 90-minute Zoom sessions make it just about impossible for anyone to stay focused, let alone teenagers. And back-to-back 90-minute Zoom sessions are soul destroying. Keep that going until 4pm so there’s less than an hour of daylight left when they’re finally done, and it’s a recipe for disaster – academically, socially, and emotionally.
@Tricia As a middle school teacher, I am only viewing it from a middle school perspective. I apologize for not knowing about the high school plans. In the middle school hybrid plan, students are losing 75 minutes per subject per week of face to face time with a teacher. That is what I mean by academics suffering. Parents are already concerned we may not be able to cover the full curriculum, so I fear when we have even less time with kids, even less curriculum will be covered. Of course, the trade off is that students will get to see their peers and some of their teachers in person, and for many parents that’s a huge win!
First, THANK YOU for the City Council members who spoke up in their letter (and thanks go @JerryReilly for posting). In a matter of this important, I would think the entire City Council would have signed on. But saddened and surprised (but not really) that no Ward 5 Councilors participated (another rant for another day).
By stark contract, I found Ruth Goldman’s response defensive, with a touch condescending if not self congratulatory. And in a parallel post here on V14, PTA President does his own interpretation of Ruth’s response – equally defensive while conveniently skipping over the $4k and $7k stipends in the MOA.
https://village14.com/2020/10/25/dont-lock-newton-students-out-of-their-schools
All the while, we just finished attending the Newton South Open House (Zoom). A common primary struggle shared by all the teachers….lack of student involvement. They are tired of speaking blank screens (most kids, disengaged do not turn their cameras on) and getting little back in response. This was not out of a lack of caring or trying by the teachers. You can see the frustration in their eyes, hear it in their voices. But with the only connection between teacher and student being a 13 inch laptop screen, remote learning is NOT an education – despite the best of intentions and effort.
So while students, teachers and parents struggle, the SC, NPS and NTA point fingers at each other and play god with a generation of high schoolers. THIS MUST STOP. Or they will be presiding over empty classrooms, zero budget while privatization of education becomes a reality and Betsy Devos is laughing all the way to the bank.
Ruth Goldman is basically saying to the parents and City Councilors: we have been and will continue to disregard you, because you are just a misinformed, stressed angry mob. You may continue to speak your allotted 3 minutes at SC meetings, but now you know exactly how much we value your opinion. Shush, angry mob, move it along.
Mama Goose, don’t forget the SC’s new policy for public comment: You must indicate your topic and then they will tell you are allowed to speak if your topic is not redundant of others wishing to speak. They have deemed this as needing to keep the meetings moving. I feel that they should be listening to anyone who wants to speak, not limiting comments to the chosen 10. Last week my family listened to the start of the SC mtg as we were preparing dinner. One of my children commented that all the parents speaking are mad and unhappy with the School Committee but during the meeting itself the members are just telling everyone how great they are.
I feel like the SC and School leadership just can’t seem to understand why people are justified in being angry.
Thank you City Council members for your advocacy.
Yes thank you to the City Councilors for their attempts to try to keep the School Committee accountable. They realize the urgency of this issue and also realize that this is a crisis where City Leaders need to call for action. What has occurred so far is not working. They know the perceived value of the schools is a big factor in making Newton desirable, They should be representing their constituents and demanding action, They have already offered to help in any way they can but all the SC has done is acted offended.
At NS Back to School Night it was stated by several of my kids teachers that they will not be covering as much curriculum this year so even in the current remote learning model they are not going to learn as much. I’m with an earlier poster that commented on how maybe parents felt that in-person learning might accomplish more just by the fact that it is more effective, At the HS level the full 90 min blocks are not spent in face to face learning. My kids are often let out early as the teacher know 90 min of zoom learning is just too much. I think you cannot replace some of the organic interactions that happen when learning takes place in-person. I will say I appreciate all that the teachers I heard tonight are trying to do,
In our opinion, bring all the children back to full in school teaching immediately. Fire all teachers that do not want to teach the children at the school right away. If it’s difficult to find new teachers, look for temporary staff with lower qualifications. It will be better to have a “warm body” teaching the kids in school compared to kids suffering by isolation and learning very little at home.
It makes us so angry to hear teachers complaining that school facilities are not good enough for going to work. No other professionals could have the luxury of making the extensive demands that the teachers do from their employers.
I would also like to thank our City Council on weighing in on the school reopening issue. We do need a plan for HS reopening with a hard date, remote learning for the foreseeable future is not going to cut it. We have such an incredible community in Newton with world-class epidemiology experts right here, we should be able to come up with specific guidelines on when HS can reopen. Why not use their expertise, or the expertise of a parent group from the Broad Institute that has been working hard trying to find ways to implement testing in schools? I just don’t get it.
My biggest concern right now is academics. We just had Back-To-School night at South. All my child’s teachers are incredible, as South teachers always are, we were very impressed. But many stated that the requirements from students will be different this year – a lot less homework, because that’s what they have been directed to do by the administration, and easier grading. Why? Whether remote or not, kids deserve to get the Newton-level education that they have been so used to. Why lower standards now? While I understand that administering a regular test would be difficult, there are ways to come up with tests that kids can do at home. I think if parents were sure their kids are getting the same level of education that they used to, they would be a lot more patient and understanding toward the administration taking its time to reopen. Everyone in this community is eager to see the reopening plan for all schools – even if we would have to put that plan on hold because of covid numbers.
Big thank you to the City Councillors for speaking out. I’m sure it’s ruffled a lot of feathers and took some political courage. As a parent, I feel like my interests and the interests of my kids have been pretty much ignored throughout the school re-opening discussion, so I’m glad somebody is finally in our corner. I wish the mayor would show more leadership on this topic.
I would also like to address Ms. Goldman’s various comments, particularly with respect to elementary school. I’m sorry, but in no state of the universe is school for two mornings a week considered “robust”. Moreover, the recent communication from NPS offered barely any hope of extended school hours, so this is the first I concretely hear of it for 1st and 2nd graders. But even then… we are talking about two full days of school per week as opposed to two mornings. This is barely progress. Young kids in Weston are going to school five half-days a week. And SC is “hearing good things” for 3rd-5th graders who only go in person two mornings a week? Doesn’t pass the smell test.
What the SC needs to do is host a town hall meeting where they just listen and take notes from parents, really internalize what is being said, and act accordingly. They are elected representatives of the people.
Also they keep trumpeting how they have opened the most schools in the state, There are few districts that can compare to Newton with the number of schools except for true city districts so stop patting yourself on the back for that one. Other districts were able to open all of their schools for some form of in-person learning.
Also I’m guessing the largest districts were not able to open schools due to public health issues which to me is much more of a valid reason than what us occurring here.
Ruth’s response is extremely condescending and also filled with inaccuracies. I have yet to speak to a student, teacher or parent that thinks remote learning is working well. It is not the teacher’s fault, it is simply the nature of teaching in person vs. online.
In my industry, it is common knowledge that you cannot schedule remote meetings with adults for more than 2.5 hours. We have been doing this for years. Anything more than this is unproductive time and considered intrusive. These are some of the most intelligent people in the world…. MDs and PhDs with expertise in high level medical areas. Yet we are asking our kids to pay attention for 7 hours of remote learning every day with no testing to measure what they actually taking in.
Ruth, School Committee members, superintendent Fleishman, you are kidding yourselves. You have certainly not surrounded yourselves with a “Team of Rivals” and you are not qualified to comment on remote teaching, learning, presenting, anything…
No one can deny that returning to part-time or full-time in-class instruction will improve our students’ education. Maybe it should be done, but it is a risky business. Here are links to three articles about schools that recently had to close temporarily because of Covid outbreaks:
https://www.kxxv.com/news/local-news/copperas-cove-high-school-transitions-to-remote-learning-after-increase-in-covid-19-cases
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/25/woodhaven-high-school-students-teacher-quarantine-covid/6035495002/
https://www.rrstar.com/news/20201028/freeport-sends-middle-high-school-students-home-for-2-weeks-because-of-covid-19
If the Newton Schools, in accord with the wishes of many residents and public officials, return to a more “robust” schedule of in-class instruction, then we must install sensible protocols for all aspects of school life; monitoring infections and contact tracing of students, teachers,and staff; enforced wearing of masks, social distancing, and frequent hand-washing; safe transport to and from school; effective means of clean air circulation within buildings, even in the cold of winter; anticipating the probably inevitable temporary closing of schools when outbreaks do arise.
All of these measures are possible but time-consuming and costly. Still, they can be done if the city commits the necessary resources and students, teachers, staff, and, yes, families are willing to observe safe Covid protocols inside and outside school. It will take a community-wide effort, and everyone must participate.
I am certainly with Tim above that is the first I hear about the plans for the early grades. Last we heard from Mr. Fleishman
was to let us know they reneged on the promise of the 3 p.m.
So, if the school committee and administration have all of these plans, why don’t they share them with families?
I have been listening to the meeting and no word about what she is taking about here.
In addition, as a parent of a kindergarten student, they are keeping the cohorts artificially small for some reason?
My son has 5 kids in his cohort. Why can’t they bring the 10 kids to school every morning for at least the 4 days?
There would be more than 6 feet etc. for 10 children in the regular-sized kindergarten classroom.
@BobJampol. You are correct that schools need to have the proper protocols for a safe re-opening. The city council in their letter has invited the SC to ask for additional resources if needed. To date, the SC has not.
Public health was the original reason why schools closed in the first place. Rather than focusing on implementing a safety plan and protocols, the SC and NPS have been tiptoeing around the issue of re-opening and have veered away from the public health indicators and mitigation efforts needed to re-open. Instead, they have chosen to put all of their efforts into the inherently flawed model of remote learning or a severely watered down hybdrid version.
Bob, I agree with you. Sensible protocols are a nuisance, but necessary, and it will take a team effort. They have proven to be effective in large organizations worldwide, however.
Unfortunately, this is the world we live in today. We can either choose to live in it with a certain level of risk that we all understand, or we can wait until things go back to “normal”. It is conceivable that a freshman in high school could receive their diploma from Newton North having never stepped inside the building. I’m not sure what we are waiting for.
@Bob Jampol, before we veer too far away from the original posting, there are 10 peer districts that are currently in hybrid. They have figured it out, their students have some in-person learning opportunities, learning with their peers and learning from the teachers who have opted-in to be in school.
Until the end of August, we were confident that the SC, Supt, Mayor and NPS would have a good plan in place to educate our children – just like our peer districts. We have trusted that they were doing their best for our students in our community. I feel that we, parents, have been incredibly patient.
Nobody wants to make anybody do anything they don’t want to do. Period. However, I find it incredibly maddening that the 10 peer districts are up and running in some kind of hybrid fashion, with teachers teaching IN school, while our high school students are still home, with a working group providing a plan in early December, which, as noted by the mayor in the Oct 5 SC meeting, that would mean that the HS students would not be in school until at least mid-January, even if by then.
Needham has 97% of their teachers teaching in-person. Is it because the Needham’s Supt gave their teachers 3 choices? 1.)teach in person 2.)take a medical leave or 3.) resign. Or is it that their leadership team worked with their teacher’s union so the options were more favorable for parties? BTW, there are ways of having teachers teach remote, while the students can be IN school, on their chromebooks or livestreamed in. Other districts are doing this.
At this point, this is NOT complicated. All this cloak and dagger between the SC, Supt, Mayor & NTA is beyond frustrating.
Dear Leadership – please figure this out. It’s frankly embarrassing that Newton with it’s “Excellent Education” moniker is in this situation.
As the parent of a child in one of the middle schools, I find it extremely troublesome that the NTA, who continually say that its everyone’s safety they are looking out for in their reluctancy to return to the classroom, would demand financial compensation in order to return to the schools or get moved from one school to another. I have seen a copy of an MOU, some of which shows the following:
“When assigning staff to a different grade level within their current school building or to a position in a different school for in-person, hybrid instruction”..
A)every position must be staffed with a qualified and licensed educator
B..
C..
D..
E) Those staff transferred to a new grade level or new building in the hybrid model will receive a one time stipend of $4000
If a teacher gets assigned to a mixed grade level cohort in a hybrid model they get $7000!!!!
When assigning staff to teach the same grade but in mixed hybrid and DLA cohorts they get $4000
So in a time of a pandemic, when everyone is suffering, possibly out of work, or doing the best they can (including spending $$$ on childcare since their kids are out of school), the NTA has the audacity to demand financial compensation. This compensation is in the amount of thousands of dollars, per teacher, *if* they do the right thing and teach? amazing. I can only wonder how many other city union members have moved from one building to another, or picked up work that maybe wasn’t in their job description, just to keep the city running. I would be interested to see how many other city buildings got the amount of air circulating/cleaning upgrades that the schools got.
This isn’t about the air quality, or cohort size, this is about additional financial payments in order for the teachers to do their job. Let the parents decide what is safe/unsafe for our kids.
Enough with the NTA and their demands. Teachers should return back to school, with our kids, or find a new career. In any other profession nobody could make such demands like we are seeing here without being told to hit the help wanted section.
Other systems have figured out how to get kids back in person — https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/for-catholic-schools-class-is-in-session-and-in-person/ [“All of our focus was on how to do it, not whether to do it,”] and https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/school-openings-covid-19.html [“an essential determinant for why certain districts, with the necessary resources, have full-time in-person schooling: the will of the leader.”]
@OakHillDad – while I support our teachers, the point you raised about the financial bump in the MOA and why never sat well with me either. Glad you shined a light! And the fact that Ms. Goldman pretty much rubber stamped it in her email is yet more evidence of her “we are holier than thou”, slap in the face of parents attitude. Need more?
That’s actually why I am back to this post. Was cleaning out my Inbox just now and saw again the email about that Working Group and in it, it’s reads, “NTA invited (declined)”. Yet in her now public response to the City Council, Ms. Goldman says….
“The NTA did not agree to be on the HS Working Group but they have been collaborative around a number of tasks and there are 3 members of the NTA on the Task Force….SC does not see the NTA as standing in the way of this important work.”
Why call out the NTA for “declining” in one breath yet say the opposite in another?
There are members of the School Committee I still have faith in to look out for students, teachers and families – Matthew Miller, Anping Shen, Tamika Olszewski (just to name a few) – but this crisis and this email to City Council shows the Chair must STEP DOWN.
She had a choice to respond collaboratively to the City Council’s plea and offer of support, or in defiance, defense and condescendence. Ms. Goldman chose the latter. She is playing god with our kids’ right to a good education.
Being elected to public office is not only a sign of support by their community, but to accept a great responsibility to the office they hold (and why I will never run, there are much more dedicated people than I in this community). It is not for the thin-skinned, nor someone who puts personal defense before listening and collaboration. Ms. Goldman should resign as Chair (is that possible?) if not the School Committee all together.
Again thank you City Council because you understand that this is an urgent matter and having the schools open is vital to our community. As you know something that is urgent needs action. Please let me respond to the comments from the Chair of School Committee–The SC repeatedly has demonstrated lack of urgency. Urgency by definition requires SWIFT ACTION. We do not need “stressed out yelling and screaming” as you contend but we as parents of Newton Public School students need SWIFT ACTION. Your inertia is the frustration. At one meeting the SC mentioned that “school only started two weeks ago” as if this was an excuse to take your time, conduct another survey and set up a committee. Please keep in mind that my child has not been in front of a teacher since March. The gravity of this situation may be lost on you if your child is not a student of a public school in Newton, but we as parents see this as a crisis for our children. Waiting until January to try to open the HS-how do you reconcile this with your claim that the matter is urgent? This is a year of lost education for our students.
And yes it is an angry, scary and contentious time in our country. But I fail to see how you pointing this out to anyone helps this matter or makes any point. Parents are angry because the Mayor and the SC lack leadership. The SC failed to do what every town in the State with our metrics and all of our “peer schools” accomplished-open the schools for in person learning.
I am angry and I am sad that my child has been let down by you, the entire SC, the Mayor and the NTA.
Thank you to the City Councilors who are speaking out and stepping up! We need leaders who are follow their conscience and have sense of responsibility these days.
Are there some conflict resolution lessons they teach in kindergarten that could help the other ADULT leaders in NPS and the NTA work together and figure this out?
This is a statement just sent to the community by the School Committee ahead of their next meeting. I’d be curious to hear people’s reactions to it:
Statement from School Committee on Feedback Received
The School Committee has been receiving a great deal of email from concerned families. We understand your anxiety and share your sense of urgency. We are aware of the challenges of distance learning at all levels and the sense of isolation many students and families are feeling and want to provide as many in person opportunities as we can. To that end, we thought it might be helpful to outline where we are currently, answer some questions on the on-going planning work to re-open schools, and assess the effectiveness of our learning models.
Here is where we are currently:
All 15 elementary schools are open in a hybrid model.
The Newton Early Childhood program is operating five days week.
An elementary Distance Learning Academy is operating fully and is seen as a “best practice” model by peer districts.
Our middle and high school are open in distance only, with middle school slated to transition to hybrid on November 16.
A large number of special education students are receiving in-person services up to 5 days per week.
All building ventilation systems have been assessed and are now being calibrated to maximize fresh air exchange in every building. You can access the reports here. The ventilation work should be completed in every building by Thanksgiving.
These are the initiatives we are now working on:
Elementary
NPS, like every other district in the state, is facing hiring challenges, making a return to full-day hybrid challenging. We are now switching gears to focus on what we can make happen and are prioritizing our early grades. We are planning for full day K in person/hybrid and additional in person learning time in hybrid for grades 1 & 2. Updates on these plans will be shared at the school committee meeting on November 2. Teachers are reporting that the four hour in person time with students on the in person days is extremely effective. Similarly, our DLA teachers find this time rich and rewarding. Any full day program should not compromise this intensive early morning learning time.
Middle School
We are moving forward with the transition to hybrid learning in middle school beginning with the new term on November 16. A staffing plan is in place and we anticipate being able to move forward as planned.
High School
The High School In-Person Working Group members are working and meeting multiple times each week. A survey for families, teachers and students is due back on Sunday, Nov. 1. We are collecting details about effective models being used in MA, CT and NY and using this information to develop a workable plan. There will be an update on November 2 and a presentation of all research and survey data with proposed models for Newton on November 16. A vote is anticipated on December 2. Concurrently, once the options are clarified, an implementation plan will be developed so a transition in January is possible. Feedback is welcome. Please send to [email protected].
We understand how anxious, worried, angry and exhausted our community is right now. We are living through a terrible pandemic with no end clearly in sight and facing a long cold, dark New England winter. And we all wish we could just go back to the kind of school year we all recognize and depend upon. We are all worried about our kids and our future and dreading a a winter of limited interaction with our friends, family and neighbors.
As a School Committee we feel the pain and anxiety of COVID and all of us have faced personal challenges during this time. However, we remain committed to moving forward with solid plans and providing a strong Newton education to every child. We continue to make progress and are confident that our educational models will improve throughout the year, knowing there is no silver bullet and no perfect plan for every child.
I hope the HS working group doesn’t propose some watered down version of hybrid learning like the two mornings per week they had proposed during the summer
thank you city council for holding the school committee and mayor to task
This School Committee statement just reinforces the tone deaf nature of all their other communications and actions since the HS hybrid plan was introduced then retracted in August. No, Ruth Goldman, our anger is not about the pandemic and the long, dark, cold New England winter. We are a highly adaptable and emotionally intelligent community. Our anger is about the abject incompetence of our elected officials and their appointed administrators, starting with you. The strong implication that HS can begin again in-person by January, coming on the heels of all the other misinformation and inexcusable delays perpetrated by the SC and NPS up til now, is nothing more than another empty promise.
@Angry HS parent. Yes the frustration and anger is about the lack of SC leadership and no pushing from the Mayor.
Decided not to read these posts any more, but I happened to read the last post, by “Angry HS parent”.
Angry HS parent – your comment: “Our anger is about the abject incompetence of our elected officials and their appointed administrators, starting with you” is just so rude and mean-spirited. The School Committee members receive little in the way of compensation, and have been thrown into this awful situation. They did not ask for a worldwide Pandemic, and it is very clear that they are working very hard, and doing the best they can.
Instead of writing such rude and unhelpful posts – directed to some of our very best fellow residents, why not run for School Committee yourself? I wonder how you would have handled all this abuse from your fellow Newton residents.
By the way – as a fellow parent of the NPS, we have struggled with the hybrid vs. remote decision. For us, we decided to choose the option that would ensure that we would not endanger our valued public school staff. We were lucky that we felt comfortable that our Middle School child could learn at home until this Pandemic ends. We plan to continue to keep our child at home. She has learned a lot this year (much better than last Spring) and she seems to be doing fine, given the current situation. I think that the teachers are doing the very best they can, as are all the School Committee members and other City and School staff.
Learning remotely is clearly far from ideal, and the situation continues to change, but this is where we are, for now. Just please — think carefully before you anonymously attack people — before we end up in a place where nobody will want to step up into a leadership position to serve our community.
@Al, thanks for your response. You’re certainly entitled to disagree with an opinion holding our elected officials to task when they are objectively lagging behind all comparable communities in our area with no end in sight (for Newton HS students). And to be “comfortable” with the current situation for your child. But I’d encourage you to read the Ruth Goldman initial response to the City Councilor letter at the top of this thread. And then decide if your outrage might be better directed toward a SC chair clearly engaging in petty politics while our HS remains closed to students. As for “rude” opinions deterring people from running for elected office, based on the level of engagement we are witnessing in Newton on this and other concurrent vital topics, I’m quite confident that our community will continue to generate many qualified and motivated participants. Can’t wait for next year’s SC election!
This letter from Ruth is exactly on brand for her – she said the same thing in the spring, over the summer and at the beginning of the years i.e. working a lot of hours, a lot of parents are really happy, we are really proud of the work we have done. She’s always been condescending like this and her favorite thing to do is dismissing any criticism by citing the opposite. Every single conversation I have had with her has been the same, this is her MO. Back in the summer, we had asked her why they weren’t spending more time developing the virtual model since we were likely going to go to lockdown anyway. It’s rich she would then use that reasoning for middle school and high school. My personal favorite is her frustration at the misinformation – all of which could have been mitigated by communicating frequently with the community and engaging with her constituents. I had asked her to be more transparent in the spring and that no parent or teacher would expect the SC to have all the answers. Her response? The SC worked a lot of hours and communicated a ton with the community. And in fact, many parents think they are communicating too much so really, my feedback was just one end of the spectrum and no solution would ever be perfect and they can’t make anyone happy. She also said perhaps I should run for SC if I had such strong opinions. She’s not the most nuanced thinker and I’m going to venture to say the same for the SC. Also, while I appreciate the letter from the CC, it’s a bit late in the game to wake up. At this rate, if a plan is voted in December, when will it be implemented?
@Elaine the City Council got involved back in Sept. There was a joint mtg between the SC and the City Council.on 9/24. They have asked how they could help along the way. They were often told to stay in their lane.
There was talk of implementing the working group’s plan at the end of term 2 which would be mid Jan. BUT If the School Committee approves the pending MOA tomorrow night which only addresses high school in remote learning and requires that any changes to the agreement including schedules,etc must be mutually agreed upon between the NTA and SC then the timing would depend on whether the the parties could agree to the changes necessarily to implement the WG’s plan.