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School Building Committee: LHS Town Update

March 2023

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Hello, Town Meeting Members! This is Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools. We recently received some exciting news that we would like to share with you. On March 1st, the Massachusetts School Building Authority voted to invite Lexington into the capital pipeline for a new or renovated high school!
What does this mean for Lexington taxpayers? It means that you can look forward to a significant State investment in this project. If, after the Feasibility Study, the MSBA and Lexington stakeholders determine that a new high school is the way to go, a project of that scope and magnitude would to cost at least $400 million or more.
Lexington receives a 32% reimbursement rate, but once allowable costs are factored into the equation, Lexington has an effective reimbursement rate of approximately 25%. That means that Lexington will be reimbursed a quarter for every dollar spent on a new or renovated high school.

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Purposes of Presentation

Why has the MSBA agreed to partner with Lexington?
What’s the value to the community?
Who’s involved and how does the process work?
What are the key milestones of the project?
How can you get involved?
Where can you find more information?

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2,395

MSBA has approved a high school project for 2,395 students.

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Open-campus concept that doesn’t meet our needs today.
Significant overcrowding.
Energy inefficient building with undersized classrooms and inadequate natural light.
Many outdated systems that would cost at least $130M for capital expenses in the next 10 years. HVAC alone is $30M.
MSBA approved on the third try.

LHS was built in 1953, and it’s 70 years old.
Unlike most school buildings in New England, LHS has open-campus concept that doesn’t meet our contemporary educational needs.
The school was originally designed for 1,850 students, and we currently serve 2,344 students.
It’s an inefficient building with undersized classrooms and inadequate natural lighting.
The high school has many outdated systems that are estimated to cost $130 million dollars in capital expenses in the next 10 years. The HVAC system alone is $30 million dollars.
For these reasons and many more, the MSBA approved Lexington’s SOI after only the third submission, while many other school districts wait more than a decade before they are invited to partner with the MSBA.
The MSBA has approved a high school construction project for 2,395 students.
With that, I will turn it over to School Building Committee member Hsing Min.

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Value to Our Community

“It’s a great place to learn.”

“It’s a great place to teach.”

“I love Lexington’s architecture.”

“My employees love Lexington.”

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My name is Sha Hsing Min. I’m a community representative on this committee, and I’d like to share why, as a parent, taxpayer and homeowner, I see our next high school building as a tremendously valuable opportunity.

Why do people love and invest in Lexington?

- People say it has great schools

- But also, it’s a beautiful place to live

There are many reasons, but we got here through thoughtful choices about how we invest for the future

We are now making choices to ensure we remain a Lexington people love and admire in our children’s lives

Lexington High School was built well before Woodstock. We all remember Woodstock, right? As they say, if you remember Woodstock, you weren’t there.

The point is, LHS was designed was a very different time.

[-We need more space. Did you know we had to cut back class time to fit our students in for the past several years

-We need modern systems to heat the school \and provide data, access, modern technology and safety to our teachers and students]

And if we get this right – if we build a school that works for our students, works for our teachers and works for our community, we are laying the next golden egg. What do we get?

Better education for our kids: The state agrees with our students and teachers that we need to upgrade our school building to deliver quality of education we have come to expect in Lexington

Better place to teach. Talented teachers want a physical space where they can actualize their talents. The right school will attract and retain the best teachers.

The school is also the face of our community. More people see it more often than they see City Hall. And, if you’re doing things right, you’ll see it more often than you see the police department or the fire department. The architecture of our new high school will be an important part of how people see and value Lexington.

When people love and value Lexington, that attracts high value employers. These employers are an important engine in ou-r town’s finances and culture.

Finally, speaking of finance, as Dr. Hackett pointed out, getting this committee process right and doing the work well can get up to about 25% of the project cost paid for by the state.

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School Building Committee

Kathleen Lenihan, Chair (School Committee Member)
Michael Cronin, Vice-Chair (LPS Facilities Director)
Julie Hackett, (Superintendent of Schools)
James Malloy, (Town Manager)
Mark Barrett ( (Public Facilities Project Manager)
Charles Favazzo, Jr. (Permanent Building Committee)
Jonathan A. Himmel (Permanent Building Committee Chair)
Carolyn Kosnoff (Finance Assistant Town Manager)
Sha Hsing Min, Community Representative
Joseph N. Pato (Select Board)
Kseniya Slavsky, Community Representative
Andrew Stephens (Lexington High School Principal)
Dan Voss (Sustainable Lexington)
Charles W. Lamb (Capital Expenditures Committee, Liaison)
Alan Mayer Levine (Appropriation Committee, Liaison)

Committee = Town Expertise + State Guidance

Right mix of expertise

Collaboration with other state and local initiatives

Voices and ears of the community throughout the journey

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https://www.lhsproject.lexingtonma.org/school-building-committee

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Role of the School Building Committee and Stakeholders:

A Financial Snapshot

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Hi my name is Jon Himmel. I am a member of Town Meeting Pct6 and the Permanent Building Committee.
I will be showing you 3 Org Chart snapshots and then 5 Project Schedule snapshots.
There are 3 Organization slides: a Financial Snapshot, Design Input Snapshot, and Design&Construction Snapshot
The School Building Committee [aka SBC] is the Town’s Stakeholders group which works with the entities highlighted in Green.
As you can see, the SBC is central to the process and hence appears in the center of the chart.
The School Building Committee is set up to receive direct input from the the three entities at the top of the chart namely School Committee and Superintendent, Select Board and Town Manager, and the Voters and Town Meeting - it also has a direct tie to the Massachusetts School Building Authority [MSBA].

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Role of the School Building Committee and Stakeholders:

A Design Snapshot

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The School Building Committee is set up to receive direct DESIGN input from the School Committee, Superintendent, MSBA, educators, recreation, citizens, students, and staff.
The SBC hosts the High School Project website to keep all of the aforementioned parties up to date on progress and upcoming events.
One of the most important Design input sequences for Resident, Student, Committee, Commissions, Boards and Staff input will happen early during the Feasibility phase this Fall and are currently referred to as Visioning Sessions.
The School Building Committee works in conjunction with the Department of Public Facilities [aka DPF] and the Permanent Building Committee [aka PBC]. DPF is responsible for all direct communication with the Owner’s Project Manager, Architectural Team, and Constructors all of which appear at the bottom of the chart next chart.

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Role of the School Building Committee and Stakeholders:

A Design & Construction Snapshot

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