To Newton’s present and future city leaders: What is your plan to resource and bring much-needed growth to our schools? As a longtime Newton resident and public school administrator, I see a way forward to not only adequately fund staffing needs and operations, but to actually add new programs that will benefit Newton’s students and restore confidence in our schools.

I served as the assistant superintendent of schools in Somerville from the late 2000s to 2017, a time of significant change for Somerville with the School Department at the center of many of these changes. The city-school partnership that we created in Somerville led to robust school budget increases and program expansion. I believe that some political courage is all that is needed to make this happen in Newton.

Somerville’s growth approach offers a viable and uncomplicated lesson for properly funding Newton’s schools. The Somerville School Department was able to add staff and new programs, in some years with 6-8% budget increases and no override. How? New development and, to a lesser extent, new city-wide fees (parking, for example) but NOT school fees. The Assembly Row development was the biggest of the projects, launched with tax agreements that paid off in a big way. This development was on the edge of the city with highway access, thus reducing the need for traffic mitigation, etc. The project also included a transit link. All of these options are open to Newton, with Riverside (a long-stalled project with great potential for much-needed tax revenue) the obvious next step now that Northland, on Needham Street, is finally launched. In addition, the village centers will gain more economic life and housing options with a smart-development stance from our city leadership.

I arrived in our city when I was ten, my parents and six siblings moving to Auburndale in the late 1960s. My parents, new from the Midwest, chose Newton for the same reason many families do: for the schools—truly the lifeblood of this community. That lifeblood has become threatened in recent years as the budget squeeze has worsened, leading to a devastating teacher strike and a loss of faith in our city’s ability to fund our schools properly. A one-time budget fix took care of the problem for the coming year, but challenges loom. So much is possible here in Newton with the right leadership and some political courage. The times call for a bold vision of what’s possible. I encourage you to say loudly and proudly: Let’s properly fund and expand our school programs.

More of the same timidity means more turmoil, reduced city services, school program cuts, and a continued erosion of confidence and decreased enrollment in the schools. The enrollment decline should be cause for alarm, a sure sign that Newton’s foundational institution, our schools, is in trouble. We can’t let this happen. City leaders need to advance the Riverside development, starting with the Land Use Committee meeting on September 16. It’s time for a bold approach, one that responds to the challenge of the times, a challenge that our school system requires.

Vincent McKay
Newton Highlands