Newton Teachers Association
46 Austin Street
Newton, MA 02460
617-947-7503
Michael Zilles, President
Jane Roderick, First Vice President and
Chair, Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee
19 May 2016
Donalyn B. Lynch Kahn, City Solicitor
Law Department
Newton City Hall, Room 208
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
Dear Attorney Kahn,
As a President of the Newton Teachers Association (NTA), I am requesting information from the
Newton Public Schools in accordance with our rights under M.G.L. Chapter 150E, as it is
relevant and reasonably necessary to the Association’s duties as the collective bargaining
representative of our members.
(1) […..] We request that the full report of the investigation conducted by Ray Shurtleff of these
incidents and their management be provided to the Association without redaction, including, but
not limited to, any disciplinary recommendations Mr. Shurtleff may have made regarding
principal Brian Turner for his conduct. In addition, the Association requests a report of any actual
disciplinary action that may have been taken towards Mr. Turner as a result of these
investigations.
Mr. Shurtleff’s recommendations and the actual disciplinary action taken towards Mr. Turner
have direct bearing on the Association’s ability to weigh the fairness of any disciplinary actions
[….], as do the facts and conclusions that Mr. Shurtleff includes in his report. Moreover, the
disciplinary actions [….] were based exclusively on this report, as the district conducted no
further investigation of their conduct beyond that done by Mr. Shurtleff. The Association
therefore makes a claim to these documents based on M.G.L. Chapter 150E.
(2) The Association remains concerned that the public statements made by the NPS regarding the
school’s response to these incidents falsely represent the role of the teachers who were involved
in reporting and responding to these incidents. To my knowledge, the teachers and councilors at
Day Middle School who were aware of the hate speech conducted themselves responsibly and
appropriately. Beyond that, they advocated forcefully with their administrative leaders that these
leaders be more thorough, transparent, and responsible in their conduct regarding the incidents of
hate speech, and expressed fear of and recounted threats of retaliation from school administration
towards them for having so advocated.
The Association is perplexed by the district’s decision to redact any information in Mr.
Shurtleff’s report that spoke to this. Thus, the public still does not know the lengths to which
teachers at Day Middle School went to protect their children. We are perplexed because we
believe that if the public were to know these facts, their confidence that their children remain in
safe hands would be enhanced. If the report makes clear that these teachers deserve the public’s
trust, the Association would like to know why those elements of the report were redacted.

 As representative of the faculty members of Day Middle School, the Newton Teachers
Association has a reasonable expectation that the Newton Public Schools defend these faculty
members’ reputations and standing with the public when so deserved. Since in this Association’s
judgment the district appears to have been negligent in its duty to do so, we need to know what,
if any, circumstances have guided the district in its choices.
Therefore, I further request a record of any communication among the City Solicitor’s Office, the
Superintendent or his designees, the School Committee, the Mayor’s office and Donald M.
Connelly, Esq., including, but not limited to, emails, meeting notes, telephone voicemail
messages, memos, etc., that led to the decision to redact so heavily the copy of Shurtleff’s report
that was released to the Newton Tab in early March, 2016.
Thank you for your timely attention to this matter.

Michael Zilles, President
Newton Teachers Association
cc:

David Fleishman, Superintendent, Newton Public Schools
Matt Hills, Chair, Newton School Committee
Ruth Goldman, Vice Chair, Newton School Committee
Setti Warren, Mayor
Heather Richards, Director, Newton Public School Human Resource Department
Toby Romer, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, Newton Public Schools
Jane Roderick, Vice President, Newton Teachers Association
Jason Leto, MTA Consultant to the Newton Teachers Association