Accountability posts

📋 LEXINGTON SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE — April 6, 2026 Meeting Recap

The $534.1 million Lexington High School rebuild remains on budget, but the April 6 SBC meeting surfaced real tension over bathroom design policy, unresolved community concerns, and budget pressure worth watching.

🚻 BATHROOM DESIGN: The School Committee voted 4-0-1 on March 10 to accept a floor-by-floor bathroom layout — two traditional gendered bathrooms and one all-gender bathroom on the ground floor; two all-gender bathrooms and one traditional gendered bathroom on floors 2–4. MSBA clarified that this is educational policy within the School Committee's jurisdiction. Multiple SBC members said openly that this is not what the SBC preferred. Member Chuck Pavazo questioned whether the SBC should take its own formal vote on the issue. Member Carolyn Koznoff noted the SBC had favored a more flexible, modifiable design. Member Charles Lamb warned: 'I think this is a decision that's going to come back to bite us.' Chair Lenahan was assigned to carry SBC concerns to Vice Chair Larry Freeman. No formal SBC vote was taken.

🎤 PUBLIC CONCERNS NOT ADDRESSED: Three residents spoke during the meeting. Tricia Jeuness and Jashang Zhang raised bathroom design concerns — asking for equal distribution of gendered and all-gender bathrooms on every floor, with Zhang flagging that under the current design, some students could face up to 1.7 minutes of walking time to reach a bathroom of their choice during a passing period. Dawn McKenna commented on multiple topics including the field house track, furniture budget, landscaping, and building exterior aesthetics. None of the public speakers' concerns received a direct response from the board during the meeting.

💰 BUDGET AND TRAFFIC: The project is currently on budget at $534.1M, but potential additions — including a banked indoor track ($1.7–2.1M), building height changes, and furniture/technology overages — are all still in play. SBC member Chuck Pavazo emphasized that any new addition must be offset by a cut elsewhere. On traffic: abutters concerned about increased Waltham Street congestion from the project had hoped for mitigation through a proposed emergency access drive. A traffic study found it would not meaningfully help; the SBC rejected the proposal on April 6 with no alternative mitigation offered.

If you care about how the new LHS will work for students every day — including something as basic as getting to a bathroom between classes — now is the time to make your voice heard with the School Committee and SBC. https://meetingwatch.org/ma/lexington/school-building-committee/2026-04-06/ #MeetingWatch #LexingtonMA