Newport Teachers to Picket on First Day Back to School as Union Tensions Escalate

The Teachers’ Association of Newport (TAN) is set to stage its second informational picket on Tuesday, September 3rd, from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. outside Pell Elementary School at 35 Dexter St., Newport. This comes as teachers report for their first day back, with students scheduled to begin their school year the following day.

Tensions are high after a group of teachers protested outside a City Council meeting on Wednesday. Inside the chambers, TAN President Jennifer Hole delivered a fiery speech urging council members to intervene and halt Superintendent Colleen Jermain’s alleged violations of teacher contracts and labor laws.

“Colleen Jermain has stripped our schools of every math interventionist, removed the reading teachers, and eliminated behavioral specialists,” Hole charged. “She and her administration are setting up the students, families, and teachers of Newport for absolute failure. Instead of coming together to solve problems, the Superintendent has decided to dig in her heels and fight — but it’s the students who will lose.”

The union is also “working to contract,” meaning teachers are sticking strictly to their contractual obligations without taking on any additional duties. TAN has filed four grievances and four unfair labor practice charges against the district, citing multiple contract violations and breaches of labor law. The informational picket, they stress, is not a strike but an effort to raise public awareness about their concerns.

“While we met throughout the summer to try to reach a settlement, the Superintendent has refused to correct the errors made when she unilaterally imposed the job fair without the Union’s involvement,” Hole explained. “These missteps have created chaos across the district, forcing many teachers into roles they’ve never held before and requiring emergency certifications just to keep their jobs.”

The discontent among teachers has been brewing for months. In June, the Union voted no confidence in both Superintendent Jermain and Ronilee Mooney, the director of multi-lingual learners, citing drastic restructuring plans imposed without teacher input and a lack of support for their implementation. According to Hole, these changes will have a detrimental impact on students this year.

“Our students deserve better,” Hole concluded, as the battle between Newport’s educators and administration shows no signs of slowing down.

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