Meet the candidates for the School Committee: Sarah Carter, Larry Freeman, Eileen Jay and Lana Panasyuk (click the images below to read an in-depth profile for each candidate):

Sarah Carter
Sarah Carter
Larry Freeman
Larry Freeman
Eileen Jay
Lana Panasyuk

On March 3, Lexington voters will weigh in on the makeup of the town’s 5-member School Committee. The School Committee is responsible for crafting the school district’s policies and goals, managing the budget, and hiring, supervising, and providing guidance to the superintendent, who oversees Lexington Public Schools’ roughly 7,000 students.

In the coming term, School Committee members will be tasked with addressing budget issues at Lexington Public Schools, the impacts of the proposed new Lexington High School building, federal attacks on DEI and belonging — one of LPS’ stated core values — fluctuating public school enrollment, and more.

School Committee members serve three-year terms. This year, two sitting members of the committee — Eileen Jay and Larry Freeman — are running for reelection, while two candidates — Sarah Carter and Lana Panasyuk — are running for public office for the first time. Carter is running unopposed for a seat that is becoming available because current School Committee member Deepika Sawney is resigning. This term will end February 2027. Jay, Freeman, and Panasyuk are competing for the other two seats. 

LexObserver sat down with each candidate to learn more about their background and experiences, why they’re running, and what they hope to accomplish as a member of Lexington’s School Committee.

Leave a comment

All commenters must be registered and logged in with a verified email address. To register for an account visit the registration page for our site. If you already have an account, you can login here or by clicking "My Account" on the upper right hand corner of any page on the site, right above the search icon.

Commenters must use their real first and last name and a real email address.
We do not allow profanity, racism, or misinformation.
We expect civility and good-faith engagement.

We cannot always fact check every comment, verify every name, or debate the finer points of what constitutes civility. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem inappropriate, and we ask for your patience and understanding if something slips through that may violate our terms.

We are open to a wide range of opinions and perspectives. Criticism and debate are fundamental to community – but so is respect and honesty. Thank you.