Name: Kathleen Lenihan
Office Sought: School Committee
e-mail address: kathleen1lenihan [at] gmail.com
phone number: 781-863-0023

Community Activities: 

• Chair, Lexington School Committee, 2020-2022
• Co-Chair, Yes For Lexington Debt Exclusion Campaign, 2016 and 2017
• Past president of Bowman, Clarke, and LHS PTO/As
• Town Meeting member Pct 4, 2017-present
• LexRAP volunteer

What do you foresee will be the major issues confronting the School Committee during the period of construction and transition to the new High School?

A major potential issue during the construction of a new and/or renovated Lexington High School is a reduction in the amount of athletic fields. In a perfect world, we would have an entirely separate parcel of land on which to build a new high school. This would allow LHS educational and athletic activities to function without any interruption whatsoever as the new school is built. We do not live in that perfect world, and we must confront the challenge of a major building project on land with significant site constraints. This means that there is high potential for a new LHS to be built on current athletic fields and new fields eventually built on the site of the current LHS, as was the case with the rebuilt Estabrook and Hastings elementary schools.

We know that physical activity is crucial for children, both in physical education classes and in extracurricular sports. In addition to that, these fields are well-used and well-loved by the community. The School Committee will work in partnership with the Recreation Committee to find solutions for any field space temporarily lost during construction. While a new LHS will be a tremendous benefit for future students and the entire Lexington community, we also must meet the needs of the students at LHS during construction.

These needs are not limited to athletic pursuits. It would be easy for a project of this scope and size to dominate any School Committee’s time, but we cannot let that happen. Work on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion cannot be paused because of a massive construction project. Disparities in discipline and achievement require consistent focus and attention if we are to make significant progress on resolving them. We must make sure the needs of students receiving Special Education services are being met - at all levels pre k-12. We need to make time for all the vital, day and in day out tasks required of any School Committee. Beyond even that, we must have the flexibility to address challenges we cannot yet anticipate.

Building a new Lexington High School is an incredible opportunity for Lexington. We get to imagine and plan for the kind of high school we want for our future students - both the building itself and the education we want to take place in that building. But while creating a school that will hopefully be educating students into the 22nd century, we must not forget the students who will attend the school during construction. Thank you to the League of Women Voters for highlighting this important issue.