Lexington School Committee Unanimously Adopts Two Graduation Policies After Third Reading

LEXINGTON -- November 18, 2025, Lexington School Committee voted 4-0 to adopt two graduation policies and heard a sweeping sustainability report spanning every school in the district. Chair Eileen Jay and members Kathleen Lenahan, Sarah Cuthbertson, and Sarah Carter, meeting by videoconference with Larry Freeman absent, approved the Competency Determination Policy (IKFE) and the Graduation Requirements Policy (IKF) on their third readings after a live editing session that clarified cross-references between the two documents and preserved a senior opt-out provision covering math, science, and social studies. Sustainability and resilience coordinator Lynn Jensen and school-based champions reported that composting at Fiske School cut weekly trash bags from 15 to roughly four; a new dishwasher at Harrington, funded in part by a $25,000 legislative earmark from state Rep. Michelle Ciccolo and a $10,000 Community Endowment Lexington grant, has replaced plastic trays with stainless steel; and every school in the district now has a hydroponic growing tower. Diamond advisor Christine Goulet reported that three eighth-graders testified before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources this fall in support of legislation restricting anticoagulant rodenticides. Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett announced the Lexington girls' cross-country team claimed its first state title since 2016, and reminded the public that the town-wide debt exclusion vote on the Lexington High School building project is set for Monday, December 8, with a voter registration deadline of November 28.