The Newton School Committee on April 2 approved Superintendent Dr. Nolans level-service-plus budget by a 6-3 vote after more than an hour of public comment urging the committee and Mayor Fuller to preserve SEL interventionists, avoid deep classroom cuts and find one-time city funding.

The vote followed a string of public speakers who described the classroom impact of Mayor Fullers lower allocation to Newton Public Schools and urged use of the citys free cash or education stabilization fund to avoid teacher layoffs and maintain student supports. The approved version of the budget excludes an $836,000 contingency for full-day kindergarten aides and assumes Title I grants will be level-funded pending final decisions.

Why it matters: The committees approval signals its view of what Newton schools need to maintain current services after years of pandemic disruptions, a long strike and declining enrollment, and it sets the committees formal request to the mayor and city council. But the mayor controls the city allocation; the city council reviews the mayors budget starting April 22, and the final fiscal outcome will determine whether the district must make further reductions or receive one-time support.

Public pleas and examples

Parents, union representatives and school staff prioritized SEL interventionists and small-group instruction in public comment. Nora Axe, identified in the meeting as an 8-year-old Mason Rice Elementary third grader, said, "Kids love our SEL teachers, and we enjoy being with them. SEL teachers have helped me so much during my 4 years at school. I've had a lot of trouble with anxiety, and without the SEL teachers, I would not have been able to thrive at school the way I do now." Several PTO leaders — Lucy Ewens and Riel Montag among them — delivered a written letter signed by parent leaders across the district urging the committee to "vote in favor of the superintendent's budget." Lucy Ewens said the district has been on a "hamster wheel of crises" and asked the committee to support a stable funding path.

Valerie Bernosh, who identified herself as an SEL interventionist for Newton Public Schools, described the roles day-to-day impact: "This year alone, I have provided interventions for nearly 30 students and counting...and, of course, I've played a vital role in crisis response." Parents and teachers warned that the mayors allocation would force some schools to combine classes or lose teachers, raising class sizes and reducing small-group literacy time that teachers said is essential.

Superintendents update and budget options

Superintendent Dr. Nolan summarized a narrowing set of options she presented to the committee. She said the district proposed a level-service-plus budget that would maintain core services and some planned investments. The mayors initial allocation left a multi-million-dollar gap; Dr. Nolan outlined two negotiation scenarios the district used in talks with the city (labeled in the presentation as Option A and Option B). She said the district had sought approximately $1.1 million in free-cash items that would have immediate operating benefit and a larger set of one-time facility needs. "I recommend the level services plus budget for the system," she told the committee.

Dr. Nolan and the district finance team reported recent movement in negotiations: the mayors office indicated potential free-cash support of roughly $1.17 million for operating needs and separate money for facilities, while rejecting other requests including a backstop for full-day kindergarten hiring and additional education stabilization funds. Dr. Nolan also told the committee the district had identified roughly $350,000 by temporarily drawing down revolving accounts and was prepared to assume additional short-term fiscal risk if necessary. She warned that some choices, such as using free cash for recurring technology replacements, would create pressure in future budgets because recurring items funded with one-time money must be restored later.

Late-breaking health-insurance cost increase

Mayor Fuller told the committee the city had discovered a late increase in health-insurance costs and planned to use free cash to cover the delta for this fiscal year. The mayor said updated data raised the city and school system health-insurance cost assumptions to approximately an 11.2% increase, producing an incremental budgetary pressure the city planned to address with additional one-time support.

Formal vote and immediate next steps

Committee member Alicia (newly sworn member) moved to approve the superintendents level-service-plus request (the motion excluded the $836,000 kindergarten-aide contingency). The motion was seconded by Emily (School Committee member) and passed 6-3. The committee amended the motion to assume Title I grants would be level-funded, removing an additional $320,000 from the immediate ask and treating that risk as contingent.

The committees vote is a formal expression of its priorities. The mayor presents the city budget to the city council on April 22; the council then has up to 45 days to act. Members said they expect to reconvene and to be updated frequently by Dr. Nolan and the finance team as negotiations or new information evolve.

What the vote does not do

The committees approval does not itself change the mayors allocation or the city councils forthcoming decision. Committee members repeatedly emphasized that if the citys final appropriation falls short of the committee-approved number, the committee will need to revisit staffing and program choices and work to adopt a balanced plan that matches the final appropriation. Several members urged urgency on both sides to find a short-term solution that avoids midyear layoffs.

Looking ahead

The district will hold another community budget forum April 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Brown Middle School. The mayors budget goes to the city council on April 22; the council has 45 days to act. Dr. Nolan and the finance team said they would return with more detail and proposed timelines if the citys final allocation differs from the committees approved plan.