The ongoing teachers’ dispute was front and center at the Newport School Committee meeting on Tuesday night. The meeting kicked off in executive session with a discussion on arbitration for grievances and later the discussion dominated the public forum portion of the meeting.
Newport School Committee directs arbitration for teacher grievances
Following an executive session on Tuesday, September 10, the Newport School Committee announced during its regular school committee meeting that it has directed its legal counsel to proceed with arbitration for grievances filed by the Teachers Association of Newport.
The committee affirmed it is adhering to contractual processes and state law while remaining open to resolving matters during the proceedings.
“We want to affirm that we are following the contract and those processes in place for all parties,” read Newport School Committee Chair Rebecca Bolan from a motion that members of the Newport School Committee passed during the Executive Session.
The union has chosen to utilize the bypass provision of the contract for expedited arbitration of its grievances. It has also filed unfair labor practice charges with the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board.
“We have directed our legal counsel to engage in these processes as expeditiously as possible,” Bolan read.
The decision comes as the next step under the collective bargaining agreement and Rhode Island state law, according to guidance from the committee’s legal counsel.
While moving forward with formal proceedings, the committee expressed hope for potential resolution at any stage of the process.
“We are always hopeful that any of these pending matters can be resolved at any time during this process,” Bolan read.
The Teachers Association of Newport’s grievances and unfair labor practice charges will now be heard in separate forums – arbitration for the grievances and the State Labor Relations Board for the unfair labor practice claims.
Teachers Plead for Help
Newport teachers, union representatives, and a student voiced frustration and concern over recent changes in the school district during the public forum portion of the meeting.
Jennifer Hole, president of the Teachers Association of Newport, accused the administration of ignoring teachers’ input.
“We’re begging for help. Our kids are in dire straits of this fake plan that still has yet to be rolled out to any of us,” Hole said. “Nobody knows how MLL students are being serviced. Nobody knows how reading intervention is being done.”
Several teachers highlighted the impact of recent staffing changes, particularly the elimination of specialist positions in reading and math intervention.
Melissa Turner, a fifth-grade teacher at Thompson Middle School, presented numbers to illustrate the challenges.
“Last year in fifth grade, we had about 115 students. This year we have 143 students,” Turner said. “We have the same number of classroom teachers, even though that huge addition of students. But we are minus five teachers that used to provide support.”
Turner added that the number of students with Individualized Education Programs has nearly tripled, from 18 last year to 48 this year.
Teachers also raised concerns about the district’s approach to multilingual learners (MLL) and the requirement for all teachers to obtain MLL certification.
Katie Behan, a former social studies teacher, said she was laid off when her job description was rewritten to require MLL certification, a change she claims was not clearly communicated to staff.
“Had we ever received the communication that you have told me received, that in order to keep our jobs, we’d be required to attain the certification, we would have done so,” Behan said.
The forum also included criticism of the district’s MLL director, with one teacher describing a social media post they found offensive.
Alex Lucini, UniServ director at NEA Rhode Island, urged the School Committee to take a more active role in resolving ongoing labor disputes.
“I implore this committee to take a more hands-on approach to resolving this matter,” Lucini said. “The individuals you have tasked to resolve this matter have placed their agenda and the district’s pocketbook ahead of Newport students.”
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