My family moved to Lexington in 1983, and I started at Fiske soon after. Decades later, my children attend the new Fiske, rebuilt in 2007 — a reminder of how Lexington continues to invest in its schools.
Back then, Fiske had a uniquely terrible playground featuring giant tractor tires half-buried in the dirt and an equally terrible set of unheated, rusty, smelly bathrooms at the end of the building. I don’t remember much from those early years, but I know I learned a lot from dedicated teachers who made the most of what they had.
Diamond felt newer and fresher by comparison. During my time there, one of the classrooms even had a darkroom. The shop and home economics sections, though they’d been around for years, still felt modern and full of possibility. We learned to work with our hands, cook, sew, and build things — lessons that made school feel practical and creative.
And then came Lexington High School. The instruction there was every bit as strong as it is today, but the building itself was already showing its age. I remember sweating through math classes in J Block in June (no air conditioning), asbestos inspections taking place in the early 1990s, and the field house roof that always seemed to leak when it rained. The building might have had its problems, but the teachers, the lessons, and the friendships — many still going strong decades later — are what I remember most.
That was thirty years ago. The fact that today’s students — in a school now operating about 70% over capacity — are still learning in many of those same spaces says a lot about how overdue this project is. Despite the school’s best maintenance efforts, the facility simply can’t support modern education or the number of students our community now serves.
Since 2000, Lexington has rebuilt four elementary schools — Harrington (2005), Fiske (2007), Estabrook (2014), and Hastings (2020) — each one a smart, forward-looking investment. A new high school is the next step in that same tradition, ensuring that all of Lexington’s children can learn in safe, healthy and inspiring spaces for decades to come.
On Dec. 8, please join me in voting YES to fund a new Lexington High School. Let’s continue our tradition of investing in education and give the next generation a building that matches the quality of their learning.
Thank you for this thoughtful perspective, especially as someone approaching retirement. You’ve nailed the key point. Partial solutions like renovation or phased construction cost more in the long run while delivering less. That’s false economy, not fiscal responsibility.
Your focus on operating costs is crucial. The net-zero LEED Gold design delivers decades of energy savings that add up significantly over a 75-year investment.
And you’re absolutely right that delay only pushes higher costs onto our future selves, compounded by construction inflation and lost of state funding. For those concerned about retirement affordability, voting YES on December 8 is actually the more predictable, manageable path.
I’ll be joining you in voting YES.