School Committee Extends Hackett's Contract 2-1

School Committee · Meeting of September 29, 2026

Lexington School Committee votes 2-1 to extend Superintendent Julie Hackett's contract through 2032 amid hours of testimony on anti-Semitism in schools. More than a dozen speakers, including parent Nikki Wickersham and Special Commission on Combating Anti-Semitism member Jill Hay, described swastikas and slurs at Diamond Middle School and asked for a written incident-response protocol. Member Mona Roy cast the lone "no" vote on Hackett's contract, citing the mid-cycle timing; members Sarah Carter and Eileen Jay voted yes.

The committee also approved a Lexington Human Rights Committee partnership memo and the state-mandated Protect Act policy on a unanimous roll call. Separately, staff reported the district's $146 million fiscal 2026 operating budget closed $13,929 under budget, though $2.9 million in in-year circuit-breaker funds covered extra special-education tuition costs, and the district expects an all-time-high $9.2 million circuit-breaker reimbursement this year. The policy subcommittee said it expects to bring a formal hate-and-bias policy by the end of October.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,916 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of September 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.