I recently read your article about the financial crisis at Newton Community Education (NCE). I was dismayed to learn about this situation, and that the mayor and some school committee members did not give NCE their support.
When the new Newton North High School was being built, the mayor and school officials promised the community that, in exchange for its support for funding a brand-new high school at a cost of $197,000,000, it would offer adult and children’s educational programming in its beautiful new facility. This was especially relevant for those Newton taxpayers who did not have children in the NPS system.
The current director has the skill set needed to reinvigorate and lead NCE back to the time when things were going well and NCE was thriving. This is not the time to shut NCE down but rather to give NCE enough time and financial support to return to a place of financial sustainability. Certainly, given the thousands of residents it has and continues to serve, and its history as one of Newton’s gems, this is a reasonable ask.
Ed Hauben
Former NCE Executive Director