In 1985, when I graduated from Lexington High School (LHS) among a class of approximately 550 students, the high school already felt crowded. At that time, it only housed grades 10-12 with the ninth graders held at the middle schools. I mention this because no amount of renovations will ever enable the school to accommodate the four-grade student body we have today. It’s unconscionable that our students often have to sit on the floor in the hallways to study and eat lunch and — even worse — to consider the safety concerns that such overcrowding presents. Today, the school is woefully failing to meet our students’ needs.
I wholeheartedly support the new LHS building and encourage all my fellow citizens to vote in favor of it on Dec. 8. No public construction effort is perfect and no project is without its opponents. A well-crafted, well thought-out project, by necessity involves compromises and trade-offs. We can’t build something that makes everyone happy. Instead, what we are called to do is to build the most thoughtful, carefully-considered project that takes into account a wide range of viewpoints.
Many before me have articulated the lengthy process of community engagement that has unfolded to date. As a former Select Board Member, now a State Representative for the past seven years, I can attest that these conversations, public meetings, data gathering and research have been going on for far more than 10 years. Back when I was on the Select Board, we were discussing the financing of the project and setting aside funding in the capital stabilization account to offset the taxpayer impact. We were preparing and planning for the absolute necessity of building a new school. With the diligent work of our staff and many dedicated volunteer committee members, careful project financing is being proposed and the peak of the projected tax increase ramps up slowly over time. It is also strategically scheduled to fit in between other large debt projects that are coming off the ledger. It is a smart and thoroughly vetted project.
Moreover, I have watched and engaged in the meetings throughout this process and have come to really love the proposed design of this new facility and how it will allow our community to fulfill its many objectives. The new LHS will be a building for the whole community, not just the students; it will be a facility that will bring us together and provide opportunities for all age groups within our town to thrive. I also believe that this may be the most important capital project the Town will undertake in my lifetime. Educating our students is a profoundly important responsibility which starts, at the very least, with an appropriate building.
We all know that one of the reasons we have such high property values in Lexington is because of the quality of our schools and municipal services. The steady growth of those real estate values is not a given and will surely erode if we don’t continue to invest in our facilities.
As a state-elected official, I’ve observed that Lexington is often held up as an example of a community leading the way and achieving great results for its residents. Many of my colleagues look up to what we do collectively as a municipality. However, with respect to providing adequate facilities for our students, we are sadly falling behind our peer communities. Concord-Carlisle, Lincoln-Sudbury and Winchester all have schools between 8 to 11 years old. Belmont High opened in 2021, as did Somerville High, and Arlington just completed the final phase of its high school project earlier this year. Newton, Woburn and Weston have high schools built or substantially renovated within the past 20 years. Waltham’s new high school opened in 2024, and Watertown’s will open next year. Revere’s project broke ground in August, and Burlington’s Town Meeting approved its new High School in September.
Like others who have lived in Lexington their whole lives, I am nostalgic and a bit sad to contemplate the demolition and rebuilding of LHS. However, our current building was originally built in 1953 to accommodate 1,800 students — not the 2,400+ we now have — and parts of LHS are now 72 years old. It has served us well, but it’s time to say goodbye to the old school with gratitude and embark together to build a new high school that will serve our community for another 75 years or more. I hope you will join me in voting yes on Dec. 8.
Representative Michelle Ciccolo
15th Middlesex District
Lexington, Woburn, Winchester
Michelle:
Bloom is not the new High School Lexington needs.
Per the SBC’s own chart https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u2umuhbcHG43JgRG0Y19BM1lPVDyW2en/view?usp=sharing, Bloom costs $1,293 per square foot, or 25% MORE than the new Belmont High School.
Sized for today’s LHS enrollment, Bloom is too small since Lexington’s population may increase by 48% in just 10 years due to 5,750 new MBTA dwellings.
And the SBC never considered the on-campus, box-based, phased design recommended by the Schools’ own 2015 Master Plan.
For all these reasons, I will vote NO on December 8, to get the SBC to finally design and cost-estimate that more reasonable design, which can be funded by the MSBA.
Bloom is a school filled with everyone’s wish list. It is not a design that was concerned with a budget. Article 8 does not present all the facts. A $647M school will cost residents upwards of $942M through municipal bonds (it’s just like a mortgage – you pay interest). Lexington currently has $350M in debt and the $647 will push it to $958M (over the 5% threshold that requires the override). MBTA zoning housing impacts on education have not been factored in. Residents will also have to subsidize education for all these smaller units being built. Any new capital expenditure, not matter how small will require an override. If the housing market valuation drops, it only gets worse. We do need a new high school, but we have to be fiscally responsible. I’d like a $5M home, but I buy assuming ups and downs and the ability to be solvent.
Thank you, Representative Ciccolo, for your thoughtful perspective. I strongly support voting YES on December 8.
To those raising concerns about cost and design: Comparing Bloom’s cost to Belmont High is misleading. Belmont opened in 2021 before the dramatic post-pandemic inflation in construction costs. We’re not just buying square footage; we’re investing in a modern, energy-efficient facility built to 21st-century standards that will serve our community for 75+ years.
The argument about future MBTA housing actually supports building now. If enrollment may increase, why would we delay addressing the current crisis of 2,400+ students crammed into a building designed for 1,800? Our children are literally sitting on hallway floors to eat and study. Waiting only makes the project more expensive and more urgent.
As for the 2015 Master Plan’s “box-based” design, the School Building Committee spent years evaluating alternatives. A phased construction approach means years of students learning in active construction zones, which is both unsafe and educationally disruptive.
Yes, this is a major investment, but what’s truly fiscally irresponsible is deferring necessary infrastructure while our 72-year-old building deteriorates and our property values, which depend on school quality, are put at risk. A “no” vote doesn’t get us a better design, it sends our students back to overcrowded, outdated facilities for years while we start from scratch at even higher costs.
Our children deserve better. Vote YES on December 8.