During her 26 years in Lexington, Lana Panasyuk has sent all five of her children through Lexington Public Schools. But in recent years, as her youngest children entered Lexington’s middle schools, Panasyuk noticed a problem: they weren’t bringing home homework.
“Without homework, kids aren’t developing a strong work ethic,” Panasyuk wrote in a statement on her website, arguing that academic rigor “has faded from the goals” of LPS. Disillusioned with the decisions of Lexington’s School Committee and Superintendent, Panasyuk decided to put her own name on the ballot.
“I want a change,” said Panasyuk, who is running for School Committee — and public office in general — for the first time. “I talk to a lot of parents, and I see some of them taking kids to the private school, just because they can’t fight the system. … That means that the schools do not perform to the satisfaction of the parents.”
Panasyuk has spent several decades in Lexington volunteering for school-related organizations, including Lexington’s Parent Teacher Organization, as well as serving on the Board of Directors for the afterschool program at Fiske Elementary School and teaching robotics, leading math and science clubs in Lexington schools and coaching youth sports.
Priorities
Academic excellence is a top priority for Panasyuk, who moved to Massachusetts from the Soviet Union in 1992 to study geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A career scientist and engineer, she’s concerned that recent moves by the district — including eliminating the “Exceeding Expectations” rating in middle schools and the “Honors-for-All” policy at Lexington High School that eliminated leveled English classes — are making students increasingly ill-prepared for high school, higher education and the workforce.
Panasyuk is in favor of returning the district to ability grouping, an academic approach that divides students into groups based on individual academic ability.
Panasyuk says she’s been frustrated for years with a lack of action in response to concerns she raises with the School Committee, and hopes her perspective as a parent and an outsider will bring about productive change and platform more diverse opinions on the committee.
“The only way to change [LPS’s priorities] is… you have to work with people who define the goals for the whole school district,” Panasyuk said. She added that School Committee transparency is another focus of her campaign.
“Too often, academic changes are made without community involvement or support, or a way to provide feedback,” Panasyuk wrote on her website. “Communication between schools and the public should be consistent, reliable, and prompt, with clear action plans. The curriculum should reflect parent input and align with their expectations.”
Often, Panasyuk said, parents feel out of the loop regarding curriculum changes, and don’t feel they have input regarding class material.
“I want to be transparent because… the parents pay for that,” Panasyuk said. “You are interested in what kids are getting… taught. And if the school doesn’t tell you, and it’s like, ‘We know best, we know how it’s done,’ no, I don’t think so.”
Panasyuk said she’s not afraid to speak out on behalf of parents who feel this way.
“I’m not afraid of asking questions at this point,” Panasyuk said. “If I see something is wrong, I’m going to talk about it, I’m going to ask questions.”
Budgeting
If elected, Panasyuk hopes to take a closer look at how the school district spends its money in order to address budgetary challenges — namely a projected $1.5-2 million district budget shortfall due to the growth of the district’s special education program, which the district is committed to funding.
Panasyuk is particularly interested in reassessing IT department spending and reducing administrative positions that do not directly support students.
“Budget freezes and deficits have become routine, disrupting services, particularly for special education and students needing extra help, like in literacy,” Panasyuk wrote on her website.
Lexington High School Building
Panasyuk agrees, as do all candidates for School Committee, that the current Lexington High School building is in need of structural updates. But she believes the “Bloom” concept proposal, for a new building, which was formally approved by Lexington’s School Building Committee Feb. 26, will not solve overcrowding issues.
Panasyuk supports a phased approach to the building’s construction, which sees the building constructed in stages across a longer span of time than Bloom’s proposed 4.5 years. Panasyuk believes this extra time will allow the district to account for population fluctuations and “react to that unpredictability” as it occurs instead of attempting to predict district population changes.
Another benefit Panasyuk sees in a phased approach is spacing out the cost of the building for taxpayers.
“When you’re building in stages, you pay for this part, and then you pay for this part two years later, and then you pay for that part three or four years later, so it’s extended,” Panasyuk said.
Finally, Panasyuk said there are “soft costs” that she accounts for when considering a new school building design, which include environmental, social and historical costs.
“If you look where the plan is for the Bloom [design], it’s in the middle of the sport fields, and we already paid for those sports fields,” Panasyuk said, adding that splitting up the school’s recreational fields may reduce Lexington’s ability to use the space for town events, like the Fourth of July fireworks show. Additionally, she noted that the high school’s proximity to a “If you look where the plan is for the Bloom [design], it’s in the middle of the sport fields, and we already paid for those sports fields,” Panasyuk said, adding that splitting up the school’s recreational fields may reduce Lexington’s ability to use the space for town events, like the Fourth of July fireworks show. Additionally, she noted that the high school’s proximity to a wetland could complicate a demolition and prolonged construction process.
For Panasyuk, being elected to the school committee is not about getting an in at the school district. It’s about raising awareness of issues she’s long felt need more attention and action, and representing the concerns of Lexington Public School constituents.
“I’m going to keep on pushing for answers, because, in my opinion… I’m still deeply concerned about this design,” she said.
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