School Committee Delays $1.2M Math Curriculum Vote

School Committee · Meeting of May 11, 2026

Newton School Committee delayed a vote on a $1.2 million K-8 math curriculum to May 18. Superintendent Dr. Nolan announced new state grant funding for career and technical health care programs and updated members on a Burr Elementary roof repair and the Newton North interim principal search, now down to four finalists screened by Vice Principal Amy Winston.

ELA self-study lead Dr. David Cloaker said Newton's own English teachers "rival anything that exists within external curriculum," while the district's literacy specialist network recommended replacing the Foundations phonics program with UFLI after 69 percent of specialists backed the switch. Social studies director Eva Urban Hughes flagged outdated, fragmented materials in grades K-2.

Staff estimated a custom high school math curriculum build at roughly $850,000 upfront after neither piloted vendor, CPM or Carnegie Learning, won broad teacher support. Newton North sophomore Talene Grubb, who is legally blind, urged the committee to restore guest speakers with disabilities to the elementary curriculum.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of May 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.