Ryan Normandin and Elizabeth Ross Del Porto want to lead the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) into its next contract fight, and so far no one is running against them.

Normandin, the NTA's second release officer, announced his candidacy for union president in early September, alongside Ross Del Porto, the union's first vice president, who is running for Normandin's current role. The pair launched a joint campaign site and are the first candidates to run together for the NTA's top two positions, the Newton Beacon reported.

The second release officer role was previously appointed by the union president until a bylaws change made independent campaigning possible.

NTA president Mike Zilles announced his retirement at the Newton Public Schools (NPS) Convocation on Tuesday, Sept. 1. As we reported Sept. 9, Zilles had led the union through its most recent contract cycle. Normandin was elected to serve alongside Zilles about a year ago, after the departure of Christine Walsh.

The NTA election is scheduled for March 2027. The winners take office next summer.

Candidates target contract deal before Aug. 2027 deadline

The candidates say their top priority is settling the next teacher contract before the current one expires on Aug. 31, 2027. That has not happened in recent NTA history. When past contracts lapsed, teachers kept protections under the old agreement but had to wait for backpay tied to cost-of-living adjustments, according to the Beacon's reporting.

"We're both on the negotiations team, and we're both strong proponents of trying to do everything we can to settle the contract before it expires, which hasn't been done in modern history," Normandin told the Beacon.

Ross Del Porto, a second-grade teacher in Angier School's ACHIEVE program for students with learning disabilities, said she is optimistic about the bargaining climate. She pointed to a new mayor and a new school committee and described early communications as positive.

Normandin said he is polling union members on their priorities heading into the contract year. The candidates also listed improving community relations and managing the pace of curriculum changes as key goals. The district approved a new math curriculum in spring 2026 and has conducted reviews in literacy, science, technology education and physical education.

Superintendent Anna Nolin has pushed back on the pace criticism. She said in a statement that feedback about curriculum changes being too quick and poorly planned has been consistent, but added that improvement does not mean the process is disorganized.

Bargaining begins Sept. 15

The NTA bargaining team's first meeting of the year is set for Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the NTA office, 29 Crafts Street, Suite 470, according to the NTA's Sept. 6 bulletin. The primary topic will be ground rules. The two sides exchanged ground rules proposals over the summer, and the NTA must respond to the school committee's counter-proposal. The union hopes to begin exchanging contract proposals by October.

The school committee's bargaining team includes Superintendent Nolin, School Committee Chair Alicia Piedalue, members Jason Bhardwaj and Ben Schlesinger, and outside counsel Andy Waugh. No high school principal is on the team this year because both Newton North and Newton South have interim principals.

One unresolved question: whether to livestream bargaining sessions for the first time. Piedalue proposed the idea at the school committee's Aug. 31 virtual meeting. School Committee member Victor Lee of Ward 8 said at that meeting that he supports transparency but worries public sessions could make compromise harder.

"My hope and aspiration is that the nature of it being public and transparent doesn't force us or other folks, NTA or otherwise … to feel like we can't reach points of compromise as a result of having to play to particular constituencies," Lee said at the Aug. 31 meeting.

Normandin said the livestreaming proposal is not final and must be presented to the full bargaining team at its Sept. 15 meeting before a decision is made.

The day after that meeting, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, the city has invited union leaders from across Newton to meet with Mayor Laredo, City CFO Maureen Lemieux and the city's bargaining team. Nearly every city union will begin negotiating new contracts this fall.