Dear Town Meeting Members and Residents of the Lexington Community,
I am reaching out to you on behalf of the School Committee to directly address the concerns many of you have raised about the proposed budget reductions—and to make something very clear: our superintendent should not be bearing the weight of this moment alone. There is a finite amount of resources available, and like many school systems across Massachusetts, we have tough choices to make.
The School Committee is holding a virtual meeting on Monday, March 30 at 5:00 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. or thereafter, there will be an agenda item that is a review of FY2027 budget reductions. Please click here for the agenda and meeting link. The meeting will be remote to ensure that no one is turned away. The proposed reductions will be reviewed in full, and we will take public comment. All community members are welcome to attend.
The budget pressures facing Lexington are part of a statewide crisis. Over the past several years, Lexington Public Schools has navigated a series of compounding financial pressures, including inflation, rising labor costs, and growing student needs. The Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees estimates that roughly half of all Massachusetts school districts are operating with painfully tight budgets. Last year, voters in 45 communities were asked to approve Proposition 2½ overrides—a sign of just how widespread and serious this challenge has become across the Commonwealth.
For those who are concerned about transparency, the budget pressures and reductions we are now facing in FY2027 are not new—they have been discussed openly at numerous public meetings (School Committee meetings and Town Financial Summits) since the fall of 2025. Our LPS Finance Team has kept a close eye on the budget, keeping our community informed through quarterly budget reports, ensuring full transparency at every stage of this process. Even as the district closed FY2025 on stable footing, leadership was candid with the community that the following year would bring renewed challenges. Please click the link for agendas, minutes, reports, and summaries of public discussions from 2025 – 2026.
The reductions currently under consideration were not handed down by one person. They were developed collaboratively by a team of district administrators and principals working through an extraordinarily difficult financial picture. The superintendent worked closely with union leaders, including the Lexington Education Association (LEA) President and the Association of Lexington Administrators (ALA President), so there would be no surprises.
Here is where we are: the cuts on the table go beyond what was initially identified as necessary. That is intentional. We are currently in the middle of bargaining four contracts, and the Superintendent and School Committee are not willing to keep returning to this community with round after round of painful reductions. While there are no guarantees that we won’t be looking at additional cuts in the future, we would rather make hard decisions now than face this again in six months.
We have a finite amount of resources, and an allocation that does not meet our needs. These reductions are also an alternative to a Proposition 2½ override—something nobody in this community wants. An override would place a direct tax burden on every household in Lexington. We are doing everything we can to avoid that outcome.
This is hard. We know it. Every reduction represents a real impact to real people—our dedicated educators, trusted programs, and important support services our students depend on each day. None of these decisions have been made lightly, and none of them reflect anything other than the difficult reality of operating a school system with financial constraints largely beyond our control.
Our educators are the heart of this school system, and we know that nothing can replace the talent, care, and commitment they bring to our students every day. The Lexington community has always valued the excellent education that our educators provide for students, and we do too. As we navigate challenging fiscal times, we will aim to keep high-quality education and serving our students as the top priority. We will continue to make difficult decisions with the transparency and care this community deserves, we will continue to listen, and we will continue to put students first.
Sincerely,
Eileen Jay, Ed.D.
School Committee Chairperson