Schools

No snow day for Newton after teachers strike

Tuesday's classes were still on in Newton, where some 12,000 students recently returned to school following an 11-day teachers strike.

By Abby Patkin

February 13, 2024

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Dozens of school districts across Massachusetts canceled classes Tuesday in anticipation of a wet and windy nor’easter, keeping New England’s cherished snow day tradition alive and well. 

Yet classes were still on in Newton, where some 12,000 students recently returned to school following an 11-day teachers strike. The strike left Newton Public Schools with little wiggle room for snow days and other unexpected cancellations, prompting the district to nix four days of February break. 

But as Tuesday’s storm rolled in and Greater Boston snowfall predictions tapered, Newton’s reluctance to make an early snow day call seemed to pay off. 

“The storm forecasts have trended south and, with temperatures above freezing for most of the day, snow will have difficulty accumulating on paved surfaces,” Mayor Ruthanne Fuller explained in an email alert Tuesday morning.

The storm did push Newton’s trash and recycling collection back one day and take NewMo — a city-sponsored rideshare service — temporarily offline, she noted.

“Everything else is continuing but please take it slower when you’re driving and look out closely for others,” Fuller said.