Normandin & Ross Del Porto Announce Candidacies for NTA President and Second Release Officer

At the 2026-27 Convocation, Ryan Normandin (formerly Newton South High, current Second Release Officer) and Elizabeth Ross Del Porto (Angier Elementary & current Vice President) announced that they will be running as a ticket in the NTA elections this March.

In March 2025, Normandin won the NTA's first contested election in 14 years with 70% of the vote. In his first year as Second Release Officer, he spent a full day or more at each of the district's twenty-three buildings to hear directly from members and learn about their priorities and problems. When that was completed, he collected data and brought public attention to the state of our buildings. These actions led to the ongoing installation of air conditions in several buildings, and a Step 3 Grievance around leaking roofs in six buildings.

Normandin also reintroduced trainings into Representative Assembly meetings to ensure that building reps have the tools they need to support members. He built new connections with community organizations, supported Summer Member Organizers as they planned the NTA's First Annual Book Block Party in September, represented members dealing with workplace issues, advocated for members on multiple joint labor management committees, and was elected Chair of the Negotiations Committee.

Ross Del Porto was elected as the NTA's First Vice President in 2019 after serving on Professional Rights and Responsibilities. In the time since, she has done the jobs of several people! Each month, she has created the presentations that are used by building reps, served as both Angier's building rep and its CAT captain, and was a member of the inaugural Labor Relations Committee, where, alongside Normandin and other NTA leaders, she participated in weekly NTA planning and monthly meetings with the superintendent and other central staff to solve members' problems.

Our 2024 contract created the Joint Labor Management Group on the Elementary School Day, charged with developing a schedule that guaranteed all elementary educators 220 minutes of prep time. Ross Del Porto served as the committee's NTA Chairperson. While the committee's work is ongoing, the interim "bridge" schedule developed for the 2026-27 school year has already achieved the long-elusive 225 minutes of prep time. This fall, Ross Del Porto will continue to chair the committee with the goal of building an elementary schedule that will protect FTEs, preserve prep time, and restore twice-a-week physical education.

Between the two of them, Normandin and Ross Del Porto have a deep well of experience doing the work of the NTA. They're excited to put that experience to work for you, and to bring fresh ideas to the role of President and Second Release Officer.

They aim to modernize and streamline communications, including publishing an easily accessible, public NTA calendar, revamping and expanding the functionality of the NTA's website, and continuing to increase the ways we leverage social media. They will build new connections in the community and strengthen existing ones so that Newton will better understand what it is we all do every day, along with the associated challenges and solutions. Both candidates will conduct regular listening sessions in the buildings, as they believe that there is no replacement for direct conversations with members.

In that spirit, Normandin and Ross Del Porto want to hear from you. On the "Contact Us" page, there is a form that you can fill out to schedule a time to talk with the candidates. They look forward to learning more about the issues that matter most to you, and what they can do to earn your vote.