The Newport Teachers Association called for a “no confidence” vote in Newport Superintendent Tony Watts Wednesday.
The association asked for the vote at the Feb. 26 board meeting, which shows dissatisfaction with the superintendent’s leadership and performance but has no official bearing on an administrator’s job. However, no board member motioned for a vote of no confidence during the meeting or discussed the topic.
The Newport Teacher Association is comprised of certified staff (employees with teaching credentials or licenses) affiliated with the National Education Association labor union. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, etc.
Numerous Newport teachers, staff, parents and students showed up at the meeting, so many so that it had to be moved to the cafeteria. The turnout was due to tentative staffing allocations recommended by Watts, which included 21 position cuts across the three Newport schools. Newport Primary School would receive four cuts, Newport Intermediate School would receive eight, and Newport High School would receive nine.
Aside from member Bobbie Stubbeman, the board voted to approve the tentative allocations.
The 21 teacher cuts were recommended to aid the $3.9 million budget deficit for the school year 2026.
“I know that this is right now tentative allotment, but I think it shortchanges you,” said Stubbeman. “Every one of you is important. You’re important to our students, and we need all of you. I have a child that says we need more of you. Thank you for everything you do day in and day out.”
Watts said that the district must do this by March 1 by law, but that doesn’t mean they can’t add additional staff, and these numbers are not the final allocation. Final allocations must be turned in by May 15. The board of education plans to meet on March 12 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the allocations further.
“I want to reiterate what we’re doing tonight. It’s not final,” Watts said. “We have a lot more work to do.”
Newport Teachers Association President Esther Fatsy, who has been with the district since 2005, called for the vote of no confidence in Watts by the board of education.
Fatsy said she was not only coming to the board as the Newport Teachers Association President but also representing every teacher and staff member in the district.
“I urge you to leave no stone unturned,” Fatsy said. “Investigate everything. We have a gifted coordinator without kids being serviced at all when cuts are made to the building levels, and no one is willing to answer the question of what is being cut at the central office. Keep in mind they’re not the ones working with students. This is not the way it should work in public schools; this is not the way we get test scores up. We need to keep teachers and support staff.”
Newport Intermediate special education teacher Robin Bomkamp said staff on the front lines are struggling with limited resources provided; they navigate crowded classrooms and manage behavioral disruptions.
“This work is challenging but not impossible, especially when we have the appropriate support in place that allows our talented, highly qualified educators to do what they do best. Teach,” Bomkamp said. “We need more support, not less, for our student success. We are not requesting coffee, lunches, or a free T-shirt during the holiday season. We are asking for meaningful support and resources to meet the diverse needs of all learners.”
Newport High School junior Donovan Macario said teachers are doing more than just teaching.
“If you cut them, the kids are not going to want to go to school,” he said. “For a lot of kids, school is their only way out of their bad home life.”
Newport High School freshman Holly Macario also addressed the board with her concerns about the teacher cuts.
“I understand we are currently $3.9 million in debt, but we need to find a way to get out of the situation and to think about the students this way, cutting back on the educators we have in order to handle behavioral issues, intervention, classes, and extracurricular activities, not only is going to affect the staff but also the students,” Holly Macario said.
Newport Board of Education Chair Ramona Malone said the board’s job is to ensure that Newport has sufficient positions throughout the district, including bus drivers, teachers, counselors, leadership, and whatever is needed to run the district effectively.
Malone said the March 12 meeting is when the board will look at all positions and how they are funded.
“You have a board here that is working countlessly to make the right decisions,” Malone said. “We’re gathering information. We’re talking to Mr. Watts regularly, asking for the information we need so that we can make the right decision for this district. I don’t want you to think that we’re only looking at teachers.”
