Newton Teachers Association President Mike Zilles announced his retirement at the district's start-of-year teacher convocation on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Zilles, a former Spanish teacher at Newton North High School who leads the nearly 2,000-member union, said his departure takes effect at the end of the 2026–2027 school year. He discussed the decision in a Thursday, Sept. 3 interview with Fig City News, saying "the world continues to undercut and devalue what we do every day."

The retirement comes as the union presses the district on building safety. The NTA has filed a Step 3 grievance before the School Committee over persistent roof leaks at Newton South High School and Burr Elementary School. Step 4 would send the dispute to a neutral arbitrator.

The leaks are well documented. Chief of Operations Josh Morse told the City Council's Public Facilities Committee on May 6 that the Burr roof "rapidly deteriorated as a result of winter storms and was actively leaking during the winter." He confirmed the Newton South roof was also actively leaking. The committee approved repurposing $833,948.85 for roof replacements at both schools.

In the Thursday, Sept. 3 interview, the NTA said the problems persist. NTA Second Release Officer Ryan Normandin, who visited all 23 district buildings after his election last spring, described trash cans stationed in Newton South's central hallways to catch drips, with water on the floor creating a slip hazard for students. He also cited mold as a concern.

The district says the roofs are fixed. The NTA disagrees.

At Burr, Zilles said double-digit classrooms were affected by leaks, with inches of standing water, industrial fans brought in to dry spaces, and a teacher who taped plastic over a monitor to keep it dry. Classes had to be relocated.

The grievance escalated to Step 3 because the district maintained the roofs had already been repaired. No hearing date had been set as of Sept. 3. The NTA says the district follows a pattern of making patch repairs below a certain dollar threshold rather than permanent fixes, and that the city is slow to release funding for larger projects.

Newton Public Schools and Superintendent Anna Nolin have not publicly responded to the NTA's claims. The NTA also raised concerns in the Fig City News interview about the pace and implementation of the district's Expeditionary Learning (EL) English language arts curriculum, saying teachers objected to its scripted format and the speed of the rollout.

The NTA's current contract expires Aug. 31, 2027, according to the union's May 2026 bulletin. The union is hosting a free Book Block Party on Sept. 27 as part of its community outreach.