Lexington School Committee Candidates Clash Over SPED Budget, New High School Design

LEXINGTON -- January 16, 2025, Lexington school committee candidates squared off on special education funding, high school design, and literacy failures at a January 16 CPAC-organized forum. Incumbent Chair Eileen Jay, incumbent Larry Freeman, and challengers Lana Panashouk and Sarah Carter all said yes to sending a long-overdue SPED parent survey and agreed that non-student-facing administrative positions should be the first target for budget cuts. Freeman, a current member since March 2022, said plainly, "Let's not use the most vulnerable" students to solve the budget shortfall. Carter drew applause by noting that Orton-Gillingham teacher training is funded almost entirely by the Lexington Education Foundation, not by the district itself, saying budgets should reflect values. On the proposed new high school, Freeman and Carter backed the Bloom design recommended by the School Building Committee; Panashouk argued for a phased approach, contending the district had never formally asked the MSBA whether phased construction could still qualify for state funding, which she put at potentially up to 30 percent of costs. All four candidates acknowledged that families with children in autism ILP programs at LCP, Fiske, and Estabrook are being asked to accept out-of-district placements due to capacity limits, with Carter citing CPAC reports that preschool-age children have already been told there is no kindergarten spot available for next year.