Newton's School Committee meets Monday, Sept. 14, with a superintendent's memo on School Resource Officers topping a packed agenda. The committee will also hear an update on Horace Mann Elementary's move to its renovated building.

The meeting at the Education Center, Room 210, starting at 6:30 p.m., comes four days after ICE agents detained two people near Newton District Court and City Hall on Sept. 10, as the Newton Beacon reported. Superintendent Anna Nolin's SRO memo, listed as a linked document under the superintendent's update, arrives as the committee also takes up a first read of the PROTECT Act, the state law signed by Gov. Maura Healey that prohibits ICE arrests at schools, courthouses and other designated locations.

As we reported Sept. 11, the committee had already signaled it would review the PROTECT Act following the detentions.

In an April 7 communication to the City Council and School Committee, Nolin stated that Massachusetts law prohibits local police from carrying out federal immigration duties. Newton's SROs do not conduct raids or check immigration status, she wrote in that April memo. The district does not collect immigration status information from students or families, according to the same document.

The memo's contents are not yet public.

Principal Mark Nardelli of Horace Mann Elementary is scheduled to present an update on the school's transition to its renovated building at 225 Nevada St. in Newtonville. A May 2026 Public Buildings Department update described the addition and renovation project as on schedule and on budget, with a planned move back to 225 Nevada St. in time for the 2026-27 school year. The district's project page listed substantial completion for summer 2026.

Whether students have already moved into the building has not been confirmed in public records.

The committee will also hear an overview of the Thrive 2030 Strategic Plan, the district's five-year roadmap organized around four focus areas: learning and well-being, community engagement, financial resources, facilities and technology, and human resources.

Five new administrators will be introduced, including a Director of Facilities starting July 1, 2027, an interim METCO Director, a Chief of Access and Engagement, a Director of Elementary Special Education, and a Communications and Human Resources Specialist, according to the meeting agenda.

Other business items include a first read of the Capital Improvement Plan, a first read on naming a space at F.A. Day Middle School, a discussion and possible vote on the NPS Rights and Responsibilities Handbook and student handbooks for Newton North and Newton South high schools, and a vote on a delegate for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees conference Nov. 12-14.

The meeting is chaired by Alicia Piedalue. The School Committee Policy Sub-Committee meets Thursday, Sept. 17, at 3 p.m. to review policies for the 2026-27 school year.