Newton Teachers Union Decries Reopening Plan

NEWTON, MA — The Newton Teachers Association last week cast a vote of no confidence in Superintendent David Fleishman and publicly called for his resignation after the school introduced a controversial reopening plan, according to a Boston Globe report.

The Newton School Committee last week voted to support a reopening plan that places pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students in a hybrid learning model and limits sixth- through 12th-grade students to remote learning, NBC 10 Boston reported.

According to The Globe, the union met Thursday to again call for a completely remote start to the school year. Union members also discussed a plan they have developed to reopen schools in phases when health officials say it is safe.

“Everything got pushed back to the last minute, and very little of it got negotiated,” union president Michael Zilles told The Globe. “The plan was to open the schools with far too many unanswered questions.”

Fleishman told The Globe he is disappointed by the vote but will “listen, learn, and try to lower the temperature.”

NBC 10 Boston reported more than 30 school districts in Massachusetts plan to start the 2020-21 school year with online-only education.

Related:

• Newton Parents Protest New Return to School Model
• Newton South High School Recommends High School Fall To Be Distance Learning