2022-2023 Staff Cuts Update

For the 2022-2023 school year, Bigelow is expecting the following cuts due to decreased enrollment: 

  • 2.0 Grade 6 teachers
  • 0.5 PE teachers
  • 1.0 Literacy Lab teacher
  • 0.25 Fine arts teacher (position is being combined with other existing fine arts FTE)
  • 0.35 World Language Teacher

 In addition to the reductions above, Bigelow has never had a math interventionist or specialist to help support our students who need extra math support, a position the teachers have been advocating to receive for years. This is such an inequity considering the other three middle schools have been able to establish some form of a math interventionist/math lab teacher for a few years now. 


The cuts happening for the 2022-2023 school year will continue to have an impact on student learning in the subsequent years at Bigelow. Bigelow enrollment decline is larger than at any of the other middle schools (see table of project enrollment for Newton Public Schools for FY2022 – FY2027 below). Bigelow may be the smallest of the four middle schools, but we have mighty needs. These needs of our students are currently not being met and cutting positions and funding will only put our students at larger risk for falling behind socially, emotionally and academically. 

We are asking members of the community to write emails and make phone calls to the school committee, city counselors, the mayor and the superintendent to start the process of redistricting so that our small school doesn’t become smaller. 


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