Newton City Councillors Ask Mayor To Increase ARPA Funding For Schools

NEWTON, MA — Twelve Newton City Councilors wrote a letter to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller Monday asking for more ARPA funding to be allocated to the city’s public schools.

The City Councilors wrote the letter in agreement with the March 31 resolution of the Newton School Committee, which stated that four million dollars worth of budget cuts in the proposed FY2023 budget would have “a serious negative impact on the students of Newton.”

The letter was signed by Councilors Bill Humphrey, Holly Ryan, Alicia Bowman, Brenda Noel, Marc Laredo, Emily Norton, Maria Greenberg, Victoria Danberg, Chris Markiewicz, Tarik Lucas, Julia Malakie, and Pamela Wright, who argued against Fuller’s claim that using one-time funding on an ongoing deficit is unwise.

“...we disagree with the argument that ARPA funding would be an inappropriate solution here on the basis that these funds were intended to be used for helping to resolve the recent emergency and its ongoing effects, and we believe that continued or escalated funding for staff resources at a critical juncture in getting childhood development back on track is a short-term but necessary expenditure,” said the councilors.

"Failure to address these behavioral and literacy issues, among others, that cropped up during the remote learning will only end up adding much greater expenses to the school district later down the line,” they continued. "If we spend ARPA resources now, we can correct these problems quickly and then make appropriate further reductions in future years, if needed. But this is a responsible short-term use of one-time funds.”

Early last month, Superintendent David Fleishman said the district could be forced to cut up to 74 positions due to declining enrollment and rising costs of transportation, health insurance, contractual obligations, and program expenses related to starting and expanding special education programs and services. In a March 23 budget update, he said school officials would do their best to minimize layoff impacts.

About 2,500 people are employed by Newton Public Schools and 11,700 students are currently enrolled in the city's schools, down about 1,000 from five years ago.

The city allocated a $262 million budget for the schools next year, an increase of about 3.5 percent or $9 million, from the FY2022 budget, according to Fuller. In addition, the city received approximately $63 million in ARPA funding, but only about $14 million has been allocated to Newton Public Schools.

The School Committee held a public hearing Monday, during which many district parents and community members expressed concern about how the proposed budget cuts would affect students, teachers, and employees emotionally, educationally, and financially.

The meeting followed a demonstration outside Newton City Hall Thursday, during which over 300 members of the Newton Teachers Association marched around the building to protest budget cuts.