Lexington Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett announced the district may close either Bowman or Bridge elementary school in the future due to declining enrollment.
“It’s also possible that no closures will happen,” Hackett explained to the Observer. “We just don’t know at this point, but we’re also trying to be transparent and avoid any surprises.”
Hackett first wrote about this possibility in an FAQ document related to recently announced teacher and staff cuts. She then spoke about it during a School Committee meeting last Monday and again at Town Meeting’s first session on the same night. Hackett has since sent LPS families a memo explaining the possibility.
“No school closures are planned at this time — but it is being actively and carefully monitored, and we may be approaching the threshold that would require us to consider it seriously,” Hackett wrote in that memo.
The memo attributes a possible closing to declining enrollment — elementary schools across the district have shrunk by approximately 700 students since the peak in 2019. The district would begin to consider closing an elementary school when the student body has contracted by 30 “sections” or classes. The district is currently two sections away from that threshold.
“At the current rate of decline — approximately three sections per year — the district could be in a position to start the conversation about the possibility of the closure of an elementary school as early as next school year,” the memo explains.
Should the decision be made to close a school, Bowman or Bridge would be the most likely candidates due to the old age of the buildings and the cost of repairs, the memo says.
Ravneet Grewal, a Bridge parent, would be sad to see Bridge, and the environment and community that come with it, go. She argued Bridge is one of the best planned schools in Lexington because of its location away from high-traffic areas.
“Almost all of our other elementary schools are near really busy roads, like Hastings is on top of a high highway,” Grewal noted. “[Bridge is] one of the few that doesn’t have that issue and it’s also one of the most accessible over public lands if people want to walk or bike.”
Steve LeMarbre, a Bowman parent, will feel badly for the teachers who would have larger class sizes if a school closes, he told the Observer.
“Any elementary school closing is an issue in general — you’re gonna have more kids packed into classes, more teachers have to do more with less, and you’re gonna have more layoffs,” he said. “You’re gonna have janitors laid off, teachers laid off, I mean it’s just a large problem.”
Grewal, who used to teach in the Boston Public Schools, and her family love the community at Bridge, calling it “the place [they] feel safest in Lexington.” But if “qualified professionals” decide closing the school is the right thing to do, Grewal said she will accept that.
“I have really strong feelings, but I don’t really want to live in a community that just decides things based on people’s feelings,” she explained. “The way to have a community that feels as good as being at Bridge feels to me is to have a lot more people say, ‘hey, I have really strong feelings about this, and those feelings mean something, but I’m going to take a breath and I’m going to listen to people who have really studied this issue.’”
Hackett’s announcement that closing Bridge or Bowman is a possibility comes at a uniquely complicated time in Lexington — the town is struggling to pass a budget that was difficult to close due to rising healthcare, transportation, and waste-removal costs; district enrollment is declining; Town Meeting just passed a debt exclusion to build a $659 million new high school; and about 1,500 multifamily housing units have been approved or proposed to soon be built in town.
“There’s more housing being built in Lexington and that was one of the main concerns with the high school was that there may not be enough room in there with additional children coming in,” LeMarbre said. “The parents around us are very concerned, especially with something they’re planning on shutting down and then they’re gonna have to stand back up again a year or two later because a lot of people move into the area.”
Grewal noted many people have pointed fingers at Hackett for being responsible for the difficult situation the school district is in. She does not think that’s right.
“I think LPS overall is doing a fantastic job in a really difficult time,” she said.