This mid-summer update about Newton Public Schools (NPS) includes news about who is running for School Committee in November, the status of Federal funding for schools, two lawsuits of note, and approval of PTO’s donations to NPS. School Committee races Following the July 22 deadline for School Committee candidates to…
Posts published by “Adam Bernstein”
Fig City News recently spoke with School Committee member Barry Greenstein, who announced in an Op-Ed last month that he is stepping down from the Committee due to his family moving out of Newton. Originally aimed to be an “exit interview” similar to that with Chris Brezski, touching on many…
This past school year saw extensive, and at times heated, political debate and discussion over Newton Public Schools (NPS) budgetary priorities. How do these numbers and spending categories shape what students and educators do every day? Fig City News interviewed Principal Kim Lysaght of Brown Middle School, who discussed how…
Newton Community Education (NCE), the community programming organization under the Newton Public Schools (NPS), provided a generally positive financial status update to the School Committee on Monday, June 16. NCE had previously informed the School Committee of a pending insolvency in an October 31, 2024 memorandum, which cited reduced enrollment…
Two additional candidates for Newton School Committee have confirmed to Fig City News they intend to run, and as of this writing Fig City News is awaiting similar confirmation from an additional candidate who has filed with the Newton Elections Commission. Linda Swain will run, presently unopposed, from Ward 2…
During May, which was proclaimed Jewish-American Heritage Month by President George W. Bush in 2006, the Newton Public Schools central office building on Walnut Street – the Ed Center – displayed an exhibit created by an English department class at Newton North High School. The exhibit featured large, professional-appearing poster…
Chris Brezski, the highly active and vocal Chair of the Newton School Committee, has announced that he will not run for re-election this November and will leave the Committee at year-end. In his relatively brief, two-year tenure as the Committee Chair, he oversaw momentous events such as the implementation of…
Ward 6 (Newton Centre) resident, NPS parent, and Newton native Jonathan Greene has announced his candidacy for School Committee in this November’s election for the 2026-2027 term. Mr. Greene will be in a competitive race in Ward 6 versus Mali Brodt, who announced her candidacy in March. Mr. Greene told…
In a statement sent to friends and supporters, Ward 5 resident and Zervas parent Ben Schlesenger announced his candidacy for Newton School Committee in the upcoming November election. The current Ward 5 representative, Emily Prenner, has announced that she will not run for a fourth term. On his campaign website,…
On May 19, the School Committee – after months of debate, meetings, public outcry, and negotiation with City Hall following the initial February 26th disclosure of a large forecasted NPS budget deficit – voted to implement a budget for Fiscal Year 2026 (Fall 2025 – Spring 2026 school year) that…