The Newton School Committee (NSC) convened on Monday night after voting to approve Newton Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Anna Nolin’s proposed budget at the previous meeting. Several parents were once again in attendance to offer public comment, as the weeks-long, contentious budgetary negotiations continue.
The budget issue in Newton does not apply only to the schools. According to Newton parent Allison Franke, substandard fiscal management across various city departments has led to the present situation.
“Newton politicians of the 80s and 90s kicked the can down the road by not funding the pension or maintaining the roads,” said Franke.
The result is a widespread budgetary shortfall, ultimately burdening nearly 12,000 students enrolled in NPS, according to Franke.
“Our kids are paying for the sins of Newton’s past leaders,” said Franke. “Over 200 Newton voters are with me when I say we wholeheartedly reject that our kids need to keep paying.”
Franke called on city leadership to reassess their fiscal priorities and focus on the schools before Newton is irreparably damaged.
“Any city that keeps money in the bank while forcing kids to pay for sins of politicians who shirked their responsibilities a generation ago doesn’t seem like such a great community to raise a family after all, does it?” said Franke. “Do better, Newton. Be better, Newton. Clean it up.”
Newton resident Dan Evans expressed a similar view. Evans further advocated that educators be delegated a more active role in deciding how and where funding is used.
“We cannot allow misallocated funds to dictate the quality of education and support our children receive,” said Evans. “It is so important that we trust the expertise of our educators and let them decide where to allocate the funds to best support our students.”
Lindsay Golden, a Newton resident, summarized the public sentiment and implored Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller to accept the NSC budget.
“Mayor Fuller, please fund the schools,” said Golden. “It’s the fiscally responsible thing to do. It’s the educationally responsible thing to do. It’s the morally responsible thing to do. Please do the right thing and support the board’s approved budget.”
While NSC has approved the budget, there are still several obstacles that must be surmounted before it can take effect. NSC Chairman Chris Brezski provided an update on its status.
“There may be some who are unhappy to hear this, but we are still pulling on various legal threads that we do not have full visibility on at this point in time,” said Brezski.
Brezski elaborated that legal discussions have taken longer than expected and have only created further complications.
“I was hoping and had requested that we have answers for those questions by Monday, but our counsel just could not get there in time,” said Brezski. “One question spawns three new questions and three new lines of thinking, so it’s been that kind of fluid discussion.”
Despite this hurdle, the approved budget will be presented to city leadership in a meeting on Thursday. Brezski emphasized that the NSC would be ready to defend the budget’s features and importance at that meeting.
“The city council members will have the opportunity to ask whatever questions they want on the budget,” said Brezski. “We will hopefully be fully prepared to answer any of those questions.
According to Ward 4 NSC Member Tamika Olszewski, Fuller had promised secondary legal assistance from the city’s Law Department.
“You had offered to have some type of analysis from the city Law Department,” said Olszewski. “Is that still your intention to put forward, and if so, when might we expect that?”
In response, Fuller deferred back to Brezski.
“Let’s see what Chris’ lawyers come up with,” said Fuller.
