NTA eBulletin: October 18, 2026

GLP-1 Negotiations (new)

We continue to attempt to negotiate with the City of Newton and the Newton Public Schools regarding their removal of GLP-1 for weight loss from the list ("formulary") of medications covered by BCBS insurance.

Here is where we stand, and our dilemma. Removing GLP-1 medications from the list of covered medications reduced by 7.4% the amount that insurance premiums went up for this plan year (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027). Bargaining to have them once again on the formulary would raise premiums by that much, both for us, as members, and for the Newton Public Schools, as our employer. 

Our initial proposal was to have the City of Newton finance a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) to cover the cost of GLP-1 medications for weight loss. This would cost the City of Newton and the Newton Public Schools a fraction of what it would cost to keep GLP-1 medications on the formulary, because the pharmaceutical companies charge individuals far less for medications than they charge insurance. 

However, the pharmaceutical companies do not allow patients who purchase the medications at a reduced price cost to submit their expenses for reimbursement. 

(For perspective, the "reduced prices" the two major pharmaceutical companies selling GLP-1 medications charge range from $350 to $450 per month; they charge insurance companies over $1,000 per month.)

We have since learned that these companies may offer employer purchasing plans that allow the employer to directly subsidize the cost of the medications. We have proposed that the City of Newton and Newton Public Schools participate in one of these plans and offer the medications to members at a much reduced, subsidized price.

It is clear that the path forward entails some form of cost sharing that allows our members, the City of Newton, and the NPS to benefit from reduced pricing.

To be continued....

Thrive (new)

I do not receive positive feedback about Thrive. I do, however, receive a good amount of "interesting" feedback.

One member wrote to me to share their concern about how many of the presenters at Thrive work for private companies selling or hoping to sell products to NTA members or to the NPS. 

Here are some of the companies who are sending presenters:

• Lifetime Fitness

• Kami

• School Success--EdPuzzle

• Snorki

• Amplify

• LearningWorks

• Renaissance (more than one session)

• True Robotics

I did a deeper dive (using AI and Google) on just one of these companies: Lifetime Fitness. 

Lifetime Fitness is a publicly traded company that offers a sort of "Country Club" gym membership experience. They have a branch in Chestnut Hill. Individual "basic" membership is $299 per month. (For comparison purposes, an individual monthly membership at the West Suburban YMCA ranges from $24.50 to $75, depending on the member's age. They offer a 25% discount to municipal employees of Newton, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, and Belmont.)

Lifetime Fitness was founded in 1994, went public in 2004, was taken over by private equity in 2015, then went public again in 2021. Since it was acquired by private equity, it has been, quite effectively, milked by its investors. 

The private equity firms that acquired it--Leonard Green and Partners and TPG--invest in companies that historically employ low wage employees--retail (Whole Foods, Petco, J. Crew, the Container Store), healthcare (CHG Healthcare) restaurant (Burger King, Shake Shack), leisure and travel (Airbnb, Continental Airlines, Uber)

I mean by this no criticism of the substance of the workshop offered: "Fiber: The Missing Piece of SEL [The Surprising Connection between Fiber, Brain Health and Social Emotional Learning]," nor of the speaker, Sarah Moller.

But I do mean to ask whether Newton's public funds should be used to subsidize private equity investments, in this case in particular, investments in a company whose services no one working in the Newton Public Schools could possibly afford?

"Longevity" Sick Days Revisited via Q&A 

Q: What are "longevity" sick days and how do they work?

A: For members of Units A, B and E only, our contract provides that, if you have been in the district between 15 and 24 years, you receive one additional day for each year you've been in the district. If you have been in the district for 25 or more years, you receive an additional two days for each year you've been in the district.

For example, if you have worked in Newton for 17 years, you are allocated 15 regular sick days and 17 "longevity" sick days. From these, one day is subtracted for the sick leave bank.

If you have worked in Newton for 27 year, you are allocated 15 regular sick days and 54 "longevity" sick days. From these, one day is subtracted for the sick leave bank.

Q: Can I carry over these days from year to year if I don't use them?

A: Not all of them. Each year, you are only allowed to carry over a maximum of 15 days. 

Q: What is the point of having so many days if I can't carry them over if I don't use them?

A: These days protect you if you suffer a severe injury or illness and need to take off a lot of time in a given year. They do this in two ways.

(1) In a year when you are absent just a few days, you can carry over all 15 "regular" personal illness days you are allocated. For example, if you are absent 5 days, by using your longevity illness days first, you are still able to carry over 15 personal illness days. This allows you to build your bank of personal illness days more quickly.

(2) In a year when you do suffer a severe injury or illness, you can use longevity illness days first before you tap into your personal bank of illness days.

Q: Why am I instructed to use longevity personal illness days first when I record an absence on ESS? 

A: Your "regular" personal illness days are carried over automatically by ESS. You should use your longevity personal illness days up before you use any of your "regular" personal illness days to assure that all of your personal illness days are carried over at year's end. When you get to step 2 of the process for requesting time off, select LPI-USE1ST

Q: Should I use "longevity" sick days when I am out to care for a family member?

A: Yes. For anything that you would normally use a personal sick day, use a longevity sick day.

When you select LPI-USE1ST, you are then only offered one dropdown menu option: PI-LNG. Choose this option whether you are taking the day off to care for yourself or a family member.

Note that this is different than when you select PERSL ILL. There, when you get to Step 4, you are offered two dropdown menu options: PI-Family and PI-SELF:

So it seems that when you use your Longevity Illness Days first, the district does not track whether you are using them to cover your own or a family member's illness.

Elementary Joint Labor Management Committee Joint Communication to Elementary Educators

Elizabeth Ross DelPorto, NTA Vice President and Co-Chair

Ayesha Farag, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education and Co-Chair

Dear Elementary Educators,

As you are likely aware, the Elementary School Day Working Group has been engaged in an ongoing examination of how the elementary school day can best support students and educators across the district. This work has involved looking closely at our current schedules, identifying challenges and opportunities, and thinking more broadly about how we use time.

This year’s “bridge schedule” was an important step in that work, addressing several priorities while the Working Group continues to explore what might be possible beyond the current schedule. We are now at an important point in the process:

We want to hear from elementary educators across the district before developing recommendations further.

The upcoming October staff meeting will include time to examine two schedule examples referred to here as Model A and Model B. It is important to note that these are examples for exploration and feedback. No decisions or recommendations have been made. 

The models contain different approaches, features, possibilities, and tradeoffs so that we can learn from your feedback. Some features also have budgetary and/or collective bargaining implications that would need to be addressed if they were ultimately pursued. The idea is not to choose among the three examples exactly as is, but to learn what you see in them.  As a working group, we have discussed strengths, challenges, and questions related to the features of these schedule examples; we want to hear from you about what seems promising or exciting, what raises concerns, what questions emerge, and what might inform the Working Group’s next steps. 

During the session, we will ask you to consider:

• Students: How might this schedule (or features of it) affect students’ experience of the school day?

• Educators: How might it affect educators’ experience of the school day?

With these things in mind, you will be asked to share:

• Benefits, impacts, and questions: What could work well? What challenges or trade offs could it create? What do you wonder?

We are sharing the schedule document in advance so that you can familiarize yourself with the examples before the meeting, if you wish. The slide deck for the October meeting is provided, as well.  There is no expectation that you prepare feedback or review the slides ahead of time. You will have time during the staff meeting to review the materials, and an individual follow-up survey will provide another opportunity to share feedback afterward. You may also share schedule models you wish for us to consider via the survey link.

Thank you for bringing your expertise, perspectives, and curiosity to this next phase of the work. Our goal is not to arrive at a perfect schedule in one meeting, but to learn from your feedback as we consider what might be possible for our students and educators.

We appreciate your ideas and input in this important work.

Ayesha Farag & Elizabeth Ross Del Porto, Co-Chairs

Special Education I

Residents of Newton are rightfully proud of their public schools.  In fact, a common form of praise is to say "people move here for the excellent schools."  

But when you hear said that parents of special education students move to Newton for the schools, this is quite often meant as criticism. 

This is troubling. Parents and guardians of children without disabilities move to Newton for the schools because they want the excellent educational opportunities that the NPS offers. 

When parents and guardians of children with disabilities move here, they too seek the excellent educational opportunities the NPS offers their children. Often, these children are among the state's most vulnerable. Often, few districts other than Newton can meet those needs within the public schools themselves.

We can be proud that people move here for our general education and for our special education programs.

We can be proud of our special education educators--all those who work so hard and skillfully to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

We can be proud of our general education educators--all those who work so hard and skillfully to meet the needs of students both with and without disabilities.

We can be proud to be part of a school district where our special educators and our general education educators work collaboratively to meet all our students' needs.

NSK12 Review of Special Education Programs

I asked those of you who were selected to participate in focus groups with the consultant NSK12 to decline the invitation. Since then, the district has put the focus groups on hold as we work together to figure out how member input can meaningfully inform recommendations and decisions.  

We are glad the district made this choice. We in the NTA are working with our members to learn more about the process and how we can meaningfully contribute. 

Since two weeks ago, I sent the follow proposal to Assistant Superintendent Casey Ngo-Miller suggesting how the NTA could work collaboratively with the the district and its consultant:

"....I propose that you [Ms. Ngo-Miller] direct NSK12 to approach the NTA. We can work with them. We may need to refine the questions they ask in focus groups or refine their Time Insights Study. However, the main point of difference [from the NPS current plan to work with NSK12] that would allow us to move forward is that NSK12 must share all gathered results exclusively with the NTA, which will then use this data to refine its proposals for addressing special education staffing. And of course we will share the data-based rationale for our proposals with you."

I have not yet heard back regarding this proposal.

As a district, we need to be more thoughtful about how we provide services to special education students, and work to implement models that provide students with the support they need without creating dependency on adults. 

AND we must be very careful to not conflate this worthy goal with addressing budgetary shortfalls. I am concerned that the primary purpose of NSK12's recommendations will be to restrict the student services budget, with these recommendations couched in the language of reducing dependency. 

I know all educators are challenged with the increasing number and complexity of our students' needs. And I know we often feel we do not have the resources to meet those needs.

The needs are real; the lack of resources is real; caution is necessary. Our students need us to support them. Our members need their union to support them. And our special education programs must continue to be a source of great pride. 

******

In solidarity,

Mike Zilles, President

Newton Teachers Association