To the Editor,

We write as grateful parents of two grown children who benefited from the Lexington Public Schools, including its special needs programs. Our family deeply appreciates the dedication Lexington residents show to educational excellence at every level.

Lexington’s schools have a well-deserved reputation for rigor and inclusivity, with Lexington High School consistently ranked among the top in Massachusetts. Yet the current high school facilities are outdated and overcrowded—conditions that cannot be solved without new construction.

Good schools in a community require consistent support from families, exceptional teachers, and excellent facilities. The proposed Bloom design for a new Lexington High School will modernize the learning environment, relieve overcrowding, and create state-of-the-art spaces for students, educators, and the broader community. This investment is crucial to maintaining Lexington’s reputation as a leader in public education, both in the state and nationally.

We understand concerns about cost. But history shows that Lexington has consistently invested wisely in education, and families moving here continue to do so with confidence, knowing these investments strengthen our community and raise home values. What seems daunting today will, in time, become part of our collective spending, while the benefits of a first-class public education for generations of students will last.

The opportunity before us is significant: to build a safe, inclusive, and forward-looking school that supports all students—including those with special needs. We urge our community to support the Bloom design and stand together for the quality education our children deserve.

Sincerely,

Harry Forsdick and Marsha Baker

46 Burlington St

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4 Comments

  1. Harry, Marsha:

    History shows that our Town leaders make huge mistakes — for example in April 2023 by zoning 227 acres for MBTA developments (“article 36”).

    Bloom is a similar huge mistake as I explain with facts, data and analyses at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_l0Lne82eRHXcJgMNDAPium6WyYtIukq/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116971253884586510151&rtpof=true&sd=true.

    I wish you explained more crisply than in generalities why we should support (at the Monday December 8 vote) a design, Bloom, which is 43% more expensive per square foot than the new Watertown High School, and which cannot accommodate the dramatically increased enrollments from thousands of new MBTA dwellings in the next decade since an alternate less expensive and more flexible design was dismissed by Town officials in April 2024 under the false pretenses of “disruptions” during construction.

    1. The “build in place” fantasy was studied and rejected for good reason. It would have cost $100–200 million more, forfeited $120 million in MSBA reimbursement, taken years longer, disrupted learning at LHS for more than six years, and produced a compromised, piecemeal facility. It wasn’t set aside on a whim — it was rejected because it was a bad idea that didn’t meet educational or fiscal standards.

      The real choice isn’t between the Bloom plan and some mythical, cost-free, phased-in-place miracle build. It’s between Bloom — a right-sized, well-designed, MSBA-vetted school based on projected enrollment and state guidelines that prevent overspending — and losing $120 million in state funding, restarting years of design work, and letting inflation drive costs even higher while students remain in an outdated facility.

      That’s not a close call. It’s the difference between moving forward responsibly and falling years — and hundreds of millions — behind.

  2. Thank you Harry and Marsha for this letter and your support for this project, one that is so essential for our town.
    You both do so much for our community and I want to just say thanks 🙂

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