Newton Students Return To School Monday Following 2-Week Teachers' Strike

NEWTON, MA — Schools will reopen in Newton for the first time in 19 days on Monday after the longest teachers' strike in the state in three decades was resolved with the agreement on a new four-year contract for educators reached Friday night.

Superintendent Anna Nolin said schools would start one hour late — with no early start program on Monday — in order to "reconnect our staff and principals and provide direction and support for our students' return" due to what she called "the intensity of the strike and the extended period of work to rule that preceded the strike."

"Our top priorities are welcoming our students, re-establishing classroom and school community, returning to routines and schedules, and resuming grade-level learning," she said. "To support the transition back to school, we have put together expectations that support staff to respond briefly and factually to student questions about the strike and focus on resuming our typical routines."

(More on Patch: Newton Teachers Reach Agreement To End Longest MA Strike In 30 Years)

The agreement reached on Friday — in the face of $100,000 daily fines and the potential of court-ordered binding arbitration if the strike continued into this week — provides teachers with many of the benefits they were seeking, including enhanced cost-of-living wage increases, protected time-on-learning periods to collaborate with colleagues and prepare lessons, increased mental health support for students with additional social workers in schools and 60 days of paid family medical leave.

"The Massachusetts Teachers Association congratulates the members of the Newton Teachers Association for standing strong to reach a contract agreement that improves learning conditions for students and working conditions for educators," the MTA said in a statement. "It is outrageous that bargaining this transformational agreement began in October of 2022 and that it took this long to reach common sense agreements around boosting pay for the paraprofessionals to support students with learning needs and providing a humane amount of paid family leave to educators needing time to care for their own children. And it should never take this long to address the mental health needs of students when educators are demanding more social workers.

"Newton educators used their collective power to win important provisions that better Newton Public Schools. Educators across the country are inspired by the NTA's courage."

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey praised the teachers for achieving a "victory" in the agreement while also celebrating the end of the strike.

"When we fight, we win," Markey said. "And you fought hard for this victory. I am glad that come Monday morning students will be back in class with the dedicated educators, paraprofessionals and employees of the Newton public schools."

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller — who bore the brunt of the attacks from the NTA and teachers during the strike negotiations — said she is "thrilled to get the students back in the classroom" and happy with the final deal that "honors the tremendous work our teachers do — (with) a contract the city can afford — a contract that serves our students."

"In the coming days, I ask for your help in finding ways to reflect and reconnect, to learn from each other and to heal," Fuller said.