Article 4 · 2026 Annual Town Meeting

Appropriate FY2027 Operating Budget

Financial

Adopted

Result

167

Yes

Abstain

Activity ⁠summary

Adopted (167-3-7)

Vote

Discussion threads

Roll call ⁠votes

202 members.

167 Yes

3 No

7 Abs

Precinct 0

Michael J. Barrett NOT_VOTING

Deborah Johnson Brown ABSTAIN

Michelle Ciccolo NOT_VOTING

Jill I. Hai NO

Vineeta Ajay Kumar NO

Douglas Matthew Lucente NO

Joseph N. Pato NO

Mark Sandeen NOT_VOTING

Precinct 1

Lois Angelo NO

John Curtis Bartenstein NO

Sandhya Raju Beebee NOT_VOTING

Cristina Ann Burwell NO

Matthew Owen Carter YES

Sarah England Carter NO

Robert William Cunha YES

Tanya Jacqueline Gisolfi YES

Janet Mersfelder Kern NO

Jay Luker ABSTAIN

Eric Jay Michelson YES

Noah Samuel Michelson YES

Margaret Muckenhoupt YES

Valerie Gale Overton YES

Katherine Reynolds YES

John Francis Rossi ABSTAIN

Carol Jeanne Sampson YES

Bella D. Tsvetkova YES

Kyle Robert York YES

Albert Paul Zabin YES

Judith Liskov Zabin NO

Precinct 2

Avram Smith Baskin NO

Marian A. Cohen YES

Matthew Cohen YES

Matthew Daggett ABSTAIN

Sarah Sarver Daggett YES

Rita B. Goldberg YES

Carolyn M. Goldstein YES

Jeffrey Clarke Howry YES

Ajay T. Joseph NOT_VOTING

Barbara Katzenberg NO

Peter Bernard Lee NO

Mark Allan Manasas NO

Sean D. Osborne YES

Ricki Donna Pappo ABSTAIN

Syed Ali Rizvi NO

Kenneth J. Shine YES

Jonathan Edward Suber NO

Laura Wilson Swain YES

Rita Vachani NOT_VOTING

Amy Karen Weinstock YES

Betsey Weiss NOT_VOTING

Precinct 3

Courtney McCollum Apgar YES

Joshua F. Apgar YES

Cynthia E. Arens ABSTAIN

James Britton Baldwin YES

Delanot Bastien ABSTAIN

Sallye F. Bleiberg YES

Norman Paul Cohen NO

Steven Philip Heinrich NO

Sudhir K. Jain YES

Jeanne Kann Krieger NO

Michael J. Martignetti NOT_VOTING

Ipek Ozer-Stillman YES

Glenn Parker NO

Letha MS Prestbo YES

Robert I. Rotberg NO

Michael J. Schanbacher NO

David Andrew Simons NO

Prashant Singh NOT_VOTING

Franklin E. Smith YES

Richard Samuel Treitman NO

Hua Wang NOT_VOTING

Precinct 4

Alessandro Alessandrini NOT_VOTING

Nyles Nathan Barnert YES

Gloria J. Bloom ABSTAIN

Kunal P. Botla YES

Michael P. Boudett NO

Robert N. Cohen YES

Kathryn Rivard Colburn YES

Katie Ponty Cutler NOT_VOTING

Heather Lynn Hartshorn NO

Eileen S. Jay NO

Charles Wheeler Lamb NO

Kathleen M. Lenihan NO

Wendy K. Manz NO

Gerald Paul YES

Jennifer Beth Richlin YES

Kathryn Ann Roy YES

Carol R. Sacerdote YES

Peter Shapiro YES

Sandra J. Shaw YES

Nancy Ann Shepard YES

Ruth S. Thomas NO

Precinct 5

Anil Ahuja NO

Judith Ann Crocker YES

Monica Karin Davis YES

Ting Fang NO

Marilyn Moore Fenollosa NO

Andrew Friedlich NO

Anthony Grant Galaitsis YES

Sarah E. Higginbotham YES

Steven B. Kaufman YES

Pamela B. Lyons YES

Jerold Scott Michelson YES

Joyce S. Murphy NO

Kristin McKay Pechinsky YES

Marc A. Saint Louis NO

Melanie Alberta Thompson YES

M. Masha Traber YES

Alex J. Tsouvalas NO

Lin Xu YES

Catherine Yan YES

Lily Yan NOT_VOTING

John Zhiqiang Zhao YES

Precinct 6

Thomas C. Barry YES

Sara Gurley Bothwell Allen YES

Margaret L. Counts-Klebe YES

Edmund C. Grant YES

Jonathan Andrew Himmel NO

Morton Gerald Kahan NO

Jyotsna Kakullavarapu YES

Brian P. Kelley NO

Jeremy Levitan YES

Innessa Anne Manning NO

Bridger E. McGaw NO

Dawn Elizabeth McKenna NO

Susan Ann McLeish YES

Priya Narasimhan Patel YES

Deepika Sawhney NO

Taylor Singh YES

Deborah Cohen Strod YES

Eran Cohen Strod YES

Vinita Verma NO

Ryan Wise YES

Sarah Jasmin Wolfson YES

Precinct 7

Marsha Baker YES

Archan Basu YES

Vida Baterina Hom NO

Katharine Blauer NO

Robert Kevin Creech ABSTAIN

Harry Clarke Forsdick YES

Sandra Hackman YES

Philip Kennedy Hamilton YES

Stacey A. Hamilton NO

Pam Hoffman YES

Letitia Hom NO

Meghana Khanolkar NOT_VOTING

Vikas Kinger NOT_VOTING

Benjamin Charles Lees ABSTAIN

Samita A. Mandelia NO

Raul Marques-Pascual NOT_VOTING

Tina M. McBride NO

Linda C. Prosnitz YES

Monami D. Roy NO

Pamela C. Tames YES

Priya N. Tanjore NO

Precinct 8

Robert M. Avallone NO

Lauren Deems Black III YES

Victoria C. Buckley YES

Heidi Pasternak Burkholder NO

Shailesh Chandra YES

Thomas R. Diaz NO

Peggy Enders YES

Alix O'Brien Fox YES

Betty J. Gau NO

Lin Jensen YES

Alan Mayer Levine NO

Brielle Kissel Meade YES

Lisa A. Newton NO

James Arthur Osten NO

Sanjay Padaki YES

Dahua Pan NO

Andrei Radulescu Banu YES

Sudhir Ranjan NOT_VOTING

Alan V. Seferian YES

Jessica G. Steigerwald YES

Nicola Jane Sykes NOT_VOTING

Precinct 9

Shireen Ahmed YES

Mark Valerian Andersen YES

Hema P. Bhatt YES

Victoria Lawrence Blier NO

David John Buczkowski NO

Todd O. Burger YES

Scott Foster Burson NO

Jeanne Patricia Canale YES

Richard Lewis Canale YES

Rodney Elias Cole NO

Diana J. Donovan ABSTAIN

Mollie K. Garberg YES

Foster Joseph Jackson YES

Philip T. Jackson YES

Ethan Paul Kiczek YES

Suzanne D. Lau NO

Frederick L. Merrill NO

Elizabeth Ruth Mettetal YES

Alicia M. Morris NOT_VOTING

Lisah Susan Schmidt Rhodes NO

Thomas R. Shiple NO

Precinct At-Large

Total 1 = Yes NOT_VOTING

Total 2 = No NOT_VOTING

Total 3 = Abstain NOT_VOTING

Total Voters NOT_VOTING

Pass/Fail NOT_VOTING

Community ⁠discussion

31 threads.

Arguments for

Teachers are among the lowest paid professionals and deserve pay raises to maintain the quality of education.

— Ruth Thomas, Pct 4

Arguments against

The district's long-term budget forecast (CLA Andover) contains unexplained anomalies, including hidden worksheets with undisclosed salary growth assumptions.

— Zhechun Zhang, Pct 2

There is a significant discrepancy between publicly cited circuit breaker reimbursement figures and those revealed in the internal financial model.

— Zhechun Zhang, Pct 2

The Superintendent's contract lacks financial accountability, as it prohibits any reduction in her compensation regardless of district financial conditions.

— Zhechun Zhang, Pct 2

Using free cash for recurring operational expenses is discouraged by the Massachusetts Division of Local Services and merely defers a structural deficit rather than solving it.

— Zhechun Zhang, Pct 2

The budget should be withheld until an independent financial audit of the district (FY2024-2026) is completed and findings are made public.

— Zhechun Zhang, Pct 2

Key questions raised

Regarding the CLA Report: Does the Town receive reimbursement from the State or Feds for Tuition for Non-Public Schools?

— Ruth Thomas, Pct 4

How can a resident access the 19 hidden worksheets within the financial model for review?

— Ruth Thomas, Pct 4

Discussion threads

Laura Swain 20 msgs

motion to amend article 4

This is specifically to Dawn, but I'm sure others will want this information. Dawn- Could you post your slides here?

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Laura Swain 18 msgs

article 4 amendment

Here is an email from a resident: Thank you in advance. Lance (3 Baker) Dear Town Meeting Member, I am writing to you as a resident of Lexington who cares deeply about our schools, our teachers, and t…

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Dawn McKenna 15 msgs

Article 4 Amendment: A Policy Choice, Not a Financial Crisis

Dear Fellow Town Meeting Members, Before we reconvene, I want to make sure you have my full thinking — not just what I was able to say in my three minutes on Monday. Under Town Meeting rules, absent q…

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Eileen Jay 13 msgs

LPS Final Report on the Article 4 Amendment

Town Meeting Members, In preparation for debate on Article 4 and Dawn McKenna's amendment, I am sharing with you this document prepared by Dr. Hackett and her team, FINAL ATM Report_McKenna Amendment_…

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Tom Diaz Pct 8 12 msgs

Proposed $2 million increase of the FY27 school budget

Dear fellow Town Meeting members, When Town Meeting convenes i will ask to remove Article 17 (regarding the deposit for OPEB funds to the PEIL account) from the consent agenda. I hope at least 24 of y…

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andrei radulescu-banu Pct 8 11 msgs

Article 4 - what was learned?

While it may appear that little was accomplished, the discussion last night was clarifying. Both the Superintendent and the School Committee Chair stated that the current situation is “no one’s fault.…

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Ricki Pappo Pct 2 10 msgs

Article 4 and the school budget

Town Meeting Members, I'm sure we are all feeling badly about the reduction of LPS staff that has been the result of a very tight budget and increasing costs beyond the control of the school system. W…

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Jill Hai 8 msgs

SB statement on McKenna Amendment

Old email addresses die hard . . . Begin forwarded message: From: Jill Hai <JillHaiLex@...> Subject: SB statement on McKenna Amendment Date: April 3, 2026 at 2:48:48 PM EDT To: Lexington TMMA <lextmma…

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Charles Lamb 8 msgs

Possible Amendments to Articles 4,15,17

Colleagues, (Apologies in advance for over complicating Article 4. It is not something I would choose to do.) If Mr. Diaz's amendment to Articles 4 and 17 prevails, I will move amendments to Articles …

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Charles Lamb 8 msgs

AC report, Article 4: School Budget

I am surprised that there has been no discussion of this sentence on page 6 of the AC report: The School Department estimates that the FY2027 budget nominally will require a reduction of 14.5 FTE posi…

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Sarah Higginbotham Pct 5 6 msgs

Article 4: Message to TMMs from LEA & ALA Presidents

Town Meeting Members, The message below is posted as a courtesy to the presidents of the Lexington Education Association (LEA) and the Association of Lexington Administrators (ALA). You can reach them…

Bridger McGaw 5 msgs

Article 4 and thinking about Lessons Learned from ATM

Members of Town Meeting, I support adding additional funds to the Lexington Public Schools operating budget—paired with clear commitments about how we will approach this conversation and strengthen fu…

Taylor Galusha, Town of Lex Director of Communications 5 msgs

Article 4 Additional Materials: Informational Primer on Free Cash

Good Afternoon Town Meeting Members, An Informational Primer on Free Cash has been uploaded to the Annual Town Meeting webpage under the "Additional Materials" section for Article 4. Kind Regards, Tay…

Ryan Wise 4 msgs

Article 4 -- leaning No

I'm leaning towards voting against Article 4. More experienced TMMs may talk me out of it. I realize the following: I have not attended Budget Summits, financial committee meetings, or even read the e…

Deepika Sawhney Pct 6 3 msgs

Please abstain instead: [TMMALex] Article 4 -- leaning No

Thank you Ryan, for your well articulated, humane, email. May I suggest an 'abstain' vote as opposed to a 'No'? By law, we have to pass the school budget. This crisis is not the fault of our children …

Ruth Thomas Pct 4 2 msgs

VOTE NO on Article 4

I received this post from a constituent and probably you did as well. How do you think the receipts came to light? Through the open records law? They are dated 2023, and not "from the past year." I fi…

Eric Michelson Pct 1 2 msgs

Article 4 - municipal - school revenue split

We all must understand that the municipal / school split is not a static, ”we’ve always done it this way” ratio. It has NOT always been 26/74. It has changed over the years, in favor of the schools. I…

Deborah Brown 2 msgs

Updated schedule for Town Meeting

Dear Town Meeting Members, Here's an updated schedule, based on where we ended up at the close of last night's session: 3/31/2026 UPDATED proposed ATM 2026 schedule Wednesday, April 1, 2026 - no meeti…

Tom Diaz Pct 8 2 msgs

Changing my plans

Dear fellow members, After consideration since Friday, I have decided not to offer the amendments to Article 17 and Article 4. I intend to leave Article 17 on the consent agenda and to vote for Articl…

Jill Hai 2 msgs

Documents from Select Board Packet related to Article 4 discussion

Colleagues, as there has been much discussion related to Article 4, I wanted to post directly two documents which are in the Select Board packet for Monday evening. The first answers a few questions I…

Sarah Higginbotham Pct 5 2 msgs

Article 4: Letter to TMMs from LEA President

I am posting this letter as a courtesy to Robin Strizhak, President of the Lexington Education Association (LEA). She can be reached at: president@... best, Sarah Higginbotham Precinct 5 _____________…

Deepika Sawhney Pct 6 1 msg

Amendments in haste, not OK (Article 4).

Dear all, These last minute changes are not aspiring confidence and creating quite a lot of confusion. For example: $700,000 for a curriculum purchase in the shared expenses bucket is a very unusual c…

Laura Swain Pct 2 1 msg

Budget summit and Article 4

I ampostign on behalf of a resident of precinct 2 the following: ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: lu lu <lulucatmiao@...> Date: Sat, Apr 25, 2026 at 11:51 AM Subject: Budget summit and Art…

Peter Shapiro Pct 4 1 msg

Article 4 McKenna Amendment is Unlikely to Affect our Bond Rating

FROM: charles.lamb=gmail.com@... To: , Cc: · Sun, Apr 12 at 4:03 PM On Sun, Apr 12, 2026 at 12:39 PM Peter Shapiro via groups.io <pdshapiro@...> wrote: Moody's 2026 Credit Opinion for Lexington (attac…

Deborah Brown 1 msg

4/9/2026 Updated Town Meeting schedule

Dear Town Meeting members, Below is an updated Town Meeting schedule. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. Deborah 617-512-7901 ATM 2026 schedule - updated 4/9/2026 To be scheduled a…

Avram Baskin 1 msg

Article 4 in the Observer

This is a link to an article in the Observer about the delay of the vote on Article 4 until after the budget summit. https://lexobserver.org/2026/04/07/lexington-fy27-budget-further-delayed-after-scho…

Deborah Brown 1 msg

4/7/2026 Updates to TM schedule

Dear Town Meeting members, Below is an updated Town Meeting schedule. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. Deborah 617-512-7901 ATM 2026 schedule - updated 4/7/2026 To be scheduled a…

Sean Osborne Pct 2 1 msg

LPS Final Report on the Article 4 Amendment - link to Reductions in Force memo

Hi Eileen I forgot to attach the link to the Feb 2 memo to facilitate your response. https://docs.google.com/document/d/13972M9twMESfOeg6YFvX626prmkKhoyOvWz8E7BeYX0/edit?tab=t.0 Sean Osborne Precinct …

Deepika Sawhney 1 msg

Salary increments are NEVER equal to COLA! Article 4 Amendment: contract negotiations

Dear all Salary increments are NEVER equal to COLA. Unless the bargained for amount is much less than 2.5%. Because of the way the salary tables are structured and staff movement between rows and colu…

Eran Strod 1 msg

Article 4 Amendment: contract negotiations

As we head into the vote on the McKenna Amendment, I want to raise a factor that I believe has received little attention in the debate: our open contract negotiations. Four of five bargaining units ar…

Charles Lamb 1 msg

Article 4: Relevant to Tom Diaz's Amendment

In light of Tom's proposed amendment and my subsequent emails that discuss diverting an/all of the $6.5m CSF contribution to the operating budget, I offer the following: FY2027 OPEB contributions - Th…