The School Building Committee has approved a plan, “Bloom” for the new high school and building on the current playing fields in the Center. Do you support this decision? If not, what would you propose as an alternative?

I support the decision to proceed with C.5b Bloom for the new high school.  I have followed and participated in the open discussions and open process used to develop multiple proposals, evaluate and refine them, and to downselect to the current option.   C.5b Bloom is a lower cost, faster, and less disruptive option than phased build-in-place, whether considering D2 Weave as considered by the School Building Committee (SBC) or the citizen proposal presented at Town Meeting on 11/13/2024.  This latter citizen proposal would have cost hundreds of millions more and would have jeopardized the Town’s eligibility for reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).   Lexington sorely needs a new high school to alleviate overcrowding and to address the failing of the antiquated HVAC system, which would cost upwards of $300M to bring up to code in any renovation-only scenario.  While I understand the concerns that are being raised with regards to uncertain enrollment due to the 2023 re-zoning for multi-family dwellings which went way above and beyond the requirements for MBTA compliance, the way to address this is by revisiting and adjusting the zoning decisions, not by delaying construction of the new High School.