Newton Public Schools to use February vacation week as make-up days from strike

The Newton School Committee unanimously approved a plan Thursday evening to use up February school vacation week to make up for missed learning time due to the ongoing teachers strike.

The school system is required to observe President's Day on Monday Feb. 19 since it is a federal holiday. However, the following four days, or Feb. 20 to Feb. 23, will now be considered official school days.

The committee is waiting to decide how to make up additional school days until after the strike ends. Some of the options it is considering include dipping into the April vacation week and having students go to school through the end of June.

Currently, the last day of school is set for June 14, but state policy allows districts to schedule school days through June 30. As a very last resort, Newton school superintendent Anna Nolin mentioned the possibility of holding class on weekend days -- though school committee members all seemed to back off from that idea at the meeting.

Massachusetts law requires districts to have at least 180 days of instruction each school year.

"I do think it's really important that we consider the impact on all people," said committee member Barry Greenstein, acknowledging that families may have non-refundable travel plans during one or both of the vacation weeks. "But the situation we have is unprecedented and we can't risk not being able to make those days up."

To further acknowledge the bind that this decision might put families in, the school committee also agreed to not penalize students who are absent during make-up days.

The Newton Teachers Association and the district will need to agree to the make-up day plan in a return-to-work agreement once the strike is over.

The committee discussion and vote came on what was the tenth day of the teacher's strike with no apparent end in sight — and amid fraying nerves. In an email update Thursday afternoon, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller urged a resolution, saying the two parties have come to agreement "on just about all the issues," such as class sizes and social workers in buildings. "Now it is just about the money," she said, referring to differing proposals on cost of living increases for educators.

"We have given every resource to this contract that we can without harming students," she said.

Officials with the Newton Teachers Association voiced displeasure with the school committee plan on make-up days, saying it's too early notice to disrupt people's schedules.

"I think it's unfair to both the students and the educators coming off of this long and difficult strike to then ask them to change their schedules once again," said NTA President Mike Zilles at the union's Thursday night media update. "So I would ask them to reconsider."

As of Thursday evening, the two sides were still about $4 million apart on proposals — down from about $15 million earlier in the day. Zilles said his team is working closer within district budgetary parameters on cost of living adjustments, but is holding strong to make sure that the Unit C members, who include instructional aides, receive larger cost of living adjustments than what the city proposes.

Still, Zilles said he is hopeful that there would be a resolution late Thursday night or Friday.

The roughly 2,000 members of the Newton Teachers Association have been on strike since Jan. 19 to push for higher pay, more social workers in school buildings, longer parental leave and smaller class sizes. The Newton public school system serves just under 12,000 students.

Governor Maura Healey's administration also weighed in on the teachers strike Thursday.

In a statement, Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler called the extended school closure "unacceptable."

"As a lifelong educator who began his career in the classroom 25 years ago, I am deeply appreciative of the work that our educators do and understand the constraints facing the school committee," said Tutwiler. "But our students are suffering each day that Newton public schools are closed...We need our students back in the classroom now.”

Healey is also taking firm steps to push both sides toward an agreement. Per the governor's request, the state Department of Labor Relations filed a pleading in Middlesex County Superior Court Thursday asking a judge to hold two daily "status conferences" so parties can provide updates on how they're working towards a resolution. Tutwiler would participate in those meetings.

If the strike doesn't get resolved by 5 p.m. Friday, Healey's administration wants the court to force both parties into binding arbitration.

Earlier on Thursday, the Newton School Committee requested that Middlesex Superior Court Judge Christopher Barry-Smith escalate the daily fines assessed against the Newton Teachers Association for each day the strike persists. Currently, the daily fine is $50,000. Total fines as of Thursday amounted to $575,000. It is illegal in Massachusetts for public sector employees to strike.

Barry-Smith has scheduled a hearing on that matter for 3 p.m. Friday.