Newtonite ◆ Friday, September 17, 2010 • Volume 89, Issue 9
Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460
Committee cuts lunch options Hilary Brumberg ue to the $1 million a year deficit the Newton Public Schools Lunch Program has been running for several years, the School Department has made cuts to the program, according to School Committee member Jonathan Yeo. Newton Public Schools is also in the process of hiring an outside company to manage the Lunch Program, Yeo said “The massive one million dollar deficit is $1 million that can’t be spent on education,” Yeo said. “Both the City’s Citizens Advisory Committee and an expert outside consultant have analyzed the Lunch Program and found it to be far too expensive and far out-of-line with properly staffed programs,” he said. “In order to balance the FY11 budget, we had to cut half of the $1 million program subsidy by reducing Lunch Program staffing and offerings. “The $500,000 saved this year in the budget represents 10 teachings positions that were not eliminated.” Another way the Lunch Program will cut costs is by hiring Whitsons New England, Inc. to manage the program with no subsidies, while still providing “excellent food service across the school system,” according to Yeo. “They very successfully run school lunch programs in many Massachusetts school districts, as well as in other northeastern states, and will rehire the existing staff to run the program” he said. “We had hoped to have an agreement over the summer and Whitsons in place for September to run an outstanding food program, much superior to the past program,” Yeo said. “That has unfortunately not happened. We hope that they will start running the program very soon, once we complete negotiations with the employee union.” In the meantime, interim cuts have been made to the Lunch Program, according to Newton North Lunch Program Director Maria Mastroianni. Twenty-five lunch employee
positions were eliminated citywide, including seven from this school. This reduced the number of lunch employees at this school from 13 to six—over 50 percent—Mastroianni said. “But we still need to feed the same number of kids,” she said. “As it is right now, it’s really hard to put the food out. More staff would make the lunch lines go faster. But we can only do what we can do.” With the reduction of workers, the deli, salad bar and vegetarian bars were all eliminated, as was the hot sandwich and all hot grill items except one (which rotates each month), according to Mastroianni. “The six options we used to offer went down to two: a hot entrée and one item on the grill,” Mastroianni said. “Right now we don’t have any choice because we just don’t have the manpower. The School Committee’s just trying to make it as easy as possible for us.” In addition to the Lunch Program cuts, the Committee cut the breakfast program altogether. “Kids on low income used to come in and have breakfast, which they weren’t getting at home because they can’t afford the full price,” she said. “I think this will affect their education because they won’t get the most important meal of the day now. If you’re taking a test and your stomach is growling, you can’t concentrate.” Mastroianni, who has been working for the Newton Lunch Program for 18 years, is afraid that she will either lose her job or be offered one with lower pay and smaller benefits when Whitsons starts running the program, she said. “It’ll be sad if we’ll have to stop working here after so many years. Some ladies have been working here for 30 or so years. Some of them will be forced to retire.” Food handler Angela Massarotti said, “We just want to keep our jobs and our benefits. We work very hard for this job. We take pride in what we do. “We’re here for you guys. We like you guys. We’re like your mothers.”
Through conversation with members, he said he hopes to get more people interested and informed about what the NTA is doing. “We’re going to open clearer channels of communication. I think then more people will identify with the NTA. “I hope this will make people think they have a bigger voice and get them involved. More people involved means that there are more people working to solve problems.” According to Zilles, the NTA has been putting together a statement for the upcoming contract negotiation. He said it will be asking for a three-year contract this year. “It’s for everybody’s sake. We
want to know what our salaries will be. We want security. It’s important for all of us so that we can plan around it and move from there.” Zilles, who was an English and Spanish teacher at this school, said his new position is very different from being a teacher. “When I came to work today, there wasn’t a group of students there,” he said. “I’m alone more. “It’s also high intensity. There’s a lot of adventure. Not that you don’t have those things in teaching—it’s just different. “This is a job where there are a lot of emotional highs and lows. You get the excitement of working in such a challenging system, but also empathy for the people who are most vulnerable.”
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Gabe Dreyer
Introducing the new building: Principal Jennifer Price, Mayor Setti Warren, superintendent David Fleishman and senior class president Molly Doris-Pierce ceremonially cut the ribbon at for the opening of this building Tuesday, Aug. 31.
Additions, changes to building to be entered into Google Doc Hilary Brumberg here are still items that need to be completed in this building even though the school year has started, according to Heidi Black, the administrator of high school construction and strategic planning. Shelves need to be installed, some remaining equipment delivered, light switches moved, the pre-school playgrounds finished and—“of course”—the old building has to be demolished so that the field complex can be completed, Black said. Teachers should enter anything that may not be working in their spaces into a Google Doc, according to Black. She reads by
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the entries and decides “if they are even reasonable requests,” she said. Black then delegates the issues to different people depending on the item that needs attention. “If it’s something simple like moving furniture, the custodians can do it,” she said. “If it’s something like ‘the lock to my classroom is broken,’ it needs to be fixed because it’s under warranty.” Certain issues entered into the Google Doc can be categorized as “punch list items,” according to Black. These items were not totally completed during construction and the contractors are responsible for finishing them. “There are some items that
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may not be addressed,” Black said. “Some teachers say ‘I want a light switch moved’ or ‘I want my computer dock moved.’ Well, we can’t make every change that everyone might want.” Black is keeping track of requests that would require money, she said. “In about a month, I will sit with principal Jennifer Price and make a list of our priorities. “There is a small amount of money put aside if it’s necessary to finish work. It is up to the City of Newton to release that money. “If there are items that the school wants changed, we’ll have to talk to the City about whether they are reasonable to fix.”
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Two school representatives start terms in Newton Hilary Brumberg uperintendent David Fleishman and Newton Teachers Association president Mike Zilles began their positions Thursday, July 1. Both Fleishman and Zilles said they enjoy their new jobs and are experiencing all areas of the Newton Public Schools through talking to administrators and faculty. by
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Fleishman focuses on challenges for teachers
Since he began his position as superintendent, Fleishman said he has met with all of the NPS principals, spoken to teachers on opening day and toured this school. “I’ve been learning and listening,” he said.
“So far, there haven’t been any major surprises, and I think that’s because I’ve lived in the area for a while and I’ve been a superintendent before. The biggest challenge is learning about a new community and a new culture.” Starting Monday, Fleishman has and will continue to visit one of each of the City’s 22 schools each day. “I visit the classes and talk to the teachers, administrators and parents,” he said. “There are a lot of wonderful people associated with the Newton Public Schools, and I want to make sure I can talk to as many of them as possible. “Before decisions are made, I want to know more about the Newton Public Schools. For me,
it’s hard to lead a school district by staying in an office. I really want to learn about the challenges facing teachers.” Fleishman finds that the biggest challenge for Newton is finding a way to “make a very good school district even better for all kids during a time where resources are somewhat limited,” he said. “My goal is to ensure that we do everything possible to meet both the academic and emotional needs of all students.”
Zilles wants to increase union involvement
Like Fleishman, Zilles has been talking to people working in NPS to “get their input, see where they stand and see what the tasks are,” Zilles said.