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Newton School Committee approves MOA with NTA to add daily prep time and extend Wednesdays
Summary
The Newton School Committee voted 8–1, with one member absent, on June 22 to approve a memorandum of agreement with the NTA that restructures the elementary school day to provide daily preparatory time for teachers and extends Wednesdays by 15 minutes to meet DESE lunch requirements and stabilize specialist staffing.
The Newton School Committee on June 22 approved a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) to restructure the elementary school day, the committee announced. The vote was reported as 8–1, with one member absent.
Superintendent Nolan said the agreement grew out of recent contract negotiations and the joint labor-management committee focused on the elementary school day. "This is a triumph for NTA and NPS and School Committee collaboration," Nolan said, adding that the change is intended primarily to increase the amount of preparatory time teachers have each day.
The superintendent said the MOA will extend Wednesdays by 15 minutes to comply with half-day lunch expectations flagged in a DESE audit and to stabilize scheduling for special-area staff. Nolan described how the scheduling change will reduce the risk that specialists’ positions shift between full-time and part-time within a school year because of enrollment-driven section changes.
Nolan and the committee said the new structure will allow districts to schedule consistent block and integration time for specialist subjects and to pilot new offerings, including health classes, technology- and media-literacy lessons, STEM blocks and a grade‑3 robotics pilot. Nolan thanked Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education Aisha Farag and her NTA counterparts, Chris Walsh and Elizabeth Ross Del Porto, for leading the two-year effort.
The committee did not offer public comment at the meeting and had no pledge of allegiance. The Chair announced the executive-session vote on the MOA at the start of the short meeting, and the committee adjourned shortly after the superintendent’s remarks. The MOA is intended to standardize special-area classes and the elementary schedule across schools so required subjects fit a consistent cadence.
Details such as the effective date of the schedule change, which schools will pilot specific programs and any required follow-up board actions were not specified during the meeting. The committee recorded the vote as 8–1, with one member absent.
