EILEEN S. JAY

EILEEN S. JAY

Name: Eileen Jay
Address: 191 Waltham Street
Office Sought: School Committee
e-mail address: jayforschoolcommittee [at] gmail.commichaelschanbacherlexpb [at] gmail.com (
)phone number: 617-901-8502

Community Activities: 

  • School Committee member, March 2016-present (9 years)
  • Chair of the School Committee (current); Chair 2024-present & 2018-2020, Vice-Chair 2020-2021
  • Chair, School Committee Policy Subcommittee; 2024-present, 2016-2021
  • Team Lead for Secondary Education & DEI. Liaison to Select Board, SEPAC, LEF
  • Co-Chair, Superintendent Search Committee that hired Dr. Julie Hackett, 2017-18
  • LPS Strategic Plan Synthesis Team, 2019-2020
  • LPS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Community Input Team, 2021-2022
  • Cary Library, Trustee, Executive Board of Trustees, 2018-present
  • Fiscal Policy Working Group (municipal/school), 2021-2022
  • Town Meeting Member, Precinct 4, 2017-present

The schools have a two million deficit in the FY 2025 budget. Can you describe the reasons for the deficit and how the committee plans to reconcile their budget?

The Lexington Public Schools predicts a potential shortfall in the FY 2025 budget of approximately $1.5 to $2 million. To exercise prudent financial planning for this fiscal year, LPS has implemented a spending freeze which is a deliberate attempt to slow down spending in the operating budget.

The reasons behind the shortfall are multi-faceted. Many school districts in Massachusetts are facing budget challenges due to higher levels of student needs, rising costs from educator contracts, and increases in post-pandemic goods and services. These increases affect Lexington’s school budget as well. In addition, this year LPS is experiencing some new financial pressures from unanticipated, significant increases in expenses, while at the same time revenue from the town is becoming tighter. It was unexpected that the State would no longer cover daily costs for displaced students, temporarily housed in Lexington. Transportation costs for those students who continue their schooling in LPS but who now live elsewhere must be paid by the district. This is required under State law as it applies to homeless students.

Moreover, in recent years, LPS has seen an unanticipated increase in the number of students with high needs moving into the school system. To meet their needs, these students require services in special education programs or individual education plans which tend to be staff-intensive. For this school year, 25+ FTE positions for special education teachers and assistants were added to our staffing. Although not anticipated, these additional positions were necessary to serve the students’ needs. Meeting the needs of special education students is required by federal law. However, it’s more than just an obligation, LPS cares for all its students and is committed to providing the appropriate services to allow these students to be educated in the least restrictive environment. In some cases, students will attend specialized programs within the district, while in other cases, students will be educated in out-of-district placements.

In order to reconcile the budget and avoid overspending, the LPS administration is implementing a spending freeze for FY 2025. One measure to reduce costs includes consolidating administrative positions and decreasing administrative staffing, without loss of jobs, through attrition. In the spring, LPS will carefully monitor new hiring based on projected enrollment and will consolidate teams where warranted. At the elementary level, the district will continue to assess enrollment and adjust class sizes to optimize classroom and teacher resources. Non-essential expenses for catering and travel will be greatly reduced. Through these and other cost-saving measures through the remainder of the year, the LPS administration will continue to monitor expenses. In an effort to responsibly manage costs, the administration is proactively anticipating the need to offset any potential budget shortfalls so that we can end the fiscal year without any overruns.

While the question posed is about the FY 2025 budget, I think it is worthwhile to explain what has been done to address and anticipate continued cost increases as we prepared the FY 2026 budget. First, let me say that at our February 4th meeting, the School Committee approved a balanced budget for FY 2026. A balanced budget means that the revenues for LPS’ operating budget are equal to the expenditures, so that there is no budget deficit. We anticipated that many of the budget pressures seen in FY 2025 will continue into the next year. In order to balance the budget, the School Committee had to close a $3.5 million gap between anticipated expenses for FY 2026 and the revenue allocation given to LPS for its operating budget. To offset the shortfall, we adopted the following recommendations for reducing expenditures in FY 2026: consolidating elementary and middle school classrooms, reducing expense lines by 10-25%, not refilling position for retired administrator, small reduction in professional development expenses, reducing the “high risk” list which serves as a cushion for uncertainty in special education costs. It’s always difficult to cut back on expenses in the school budget, but the reductions were intentionally chosen to avoid direct impact on students or their learning. Some of the most difficult decisions the School Committee has to make involve the budget. Those of us who take on this responsibility need to do so with a deep understanding of the budget process and its implications for the school system and its students.