The Newton School Committee (NSC) voted Monday to approve the 2026–27 district calendar, which will start next school year on Sept. 2.
The proposed schedule received criticism from the Newton Teachers Association because, in addition to starting the year earlier, the calendar cut the Labor Day weekend vacation from four days (closing school on Friday and Monday) to three (just Monday off).
According to Newton Public Schools Superintendent Anna Nolin, the union raised that traditionally, the district had a four-day weekend for Labor Day. A benefit to a longer weekend could be a softer start to the year for students, according to Nolin.
“There had been previously the tradition of folks having the long weekend before Labor Day off, so, for example, Friday the 4th would be a long weekend,” Nolin said.
Nolin added, however, that families and staff alike often want school to end as early as possible to accommodate their summer plans, so any additional school closure might conflict with those goals.
“One of the stated challenges of our prior calendars for the last two years is that staff are trying to take summer jobs, and students and parents are matriculating to summer camps, which generally start that week of [June] 21,” said Nolin. “We have had staff ask, ‘Can I be released so I can start my other job?’ Answer is ‘No, you can’t.’ And we know that that’s difficult.”
NSC Chair Christopher Brezski said he supported keeping the Friday before Labor Day weekend as a school day, in order to keep Thursday, June 17, as the last day, as proposed in the schedule.
He added, though, that if the district were forced to close school over the course of the year, the school year may run into the following week anyway—the district has to hold school for 180 days, requiring it to tack on any missed days to the end of the year.
“I think you’re going to face problems on either end of that calendar, whether it’s the beginning or the end,” said Brezski.
Ward 1 Member Rajeev Parlikar shared that he was also in favor of the proposed plan, arguing that even with the early start, school will still begin in September. He further supported an earlier finish to the school year so families don’t have to scramble and adjust scheduling for summer camps or jobs.
“I know some of the feedback has been around summer plans, but that said, we are still looking at a September start, which is different from potentially other school districts in Massachusetts and certainly school districts in other parts of the country that have an August start,” Parlikar said.
Other school districts in the commonwealth and the greater United States typically begin in late August or early September.
Between the looming possibility of snow days that could interfere with the schedule or teachers and families wanting time to acclimate to the summer and school year, Nolin emphasized that there is no perfect solution to this scheduling issue.
“I’m not putting my thumb on either side of it,” said Nolin. “I’m trying to get us out as early as possible in June, and that was the mission here.”