Article 26�https://www.mytruthis.org/article26

Feedback on the proposed dashboard

Designed and made by Owners Project Manager (Dore+Whittier)

Draft Dashboard for LHS_MSBA project April 2026�

2026 Annual Town Meeting

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1/18/2026

Article Petitioners: Gauri Govil, Sudha Cheruku, Deepika Sawhney

Much gratitude for work done by Mr. Cronin

The communication need

A comprehensive information dissemination solution (CIDS*)! With:

1. Easy to understand financial information
2. Accessible, including basics pushed out
3. Explanations about major categories of expenditure, expected timeline
4. Information access for deep dives to understand costs
5. Change orders, contingencies, non eligible costs tracked
6. Audit mechanisms, ongoing process status and results
7. Overall project status and look ahead to challenges/opportunities
8. Some nice to knows

Ultimately it is about sharing power with residents through sharing information

*rhymes with Kids!

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1^st section: Banner and heading

• Keep banner small, it’s wasted space and causes too much scrolling, rearrange static content boxes to right. Newest version has a live camera link. Nice!
• Change title from Lexington Public Schools to “Lexington, Massachusetts”
• Put OPM name at the end of dashboard, (why the marque placement on banner?)
• MSBA should not be an acronym, give live link to its website, and a XX% reimbursement explanation.
• Put link or functionality for residents to

contact SBC in banner

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As per OPM many towns are now using

dashboards

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The dashboard pulls from the same data

as the OPM monthly report

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2^nd section: Budget breakdown

Use less acronyms more full words

Add a ticker tape type widget which scrolls through recent highlights, or events

to pay attention to.

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Nice work!

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3rd section: Budget by category

Highlight or create separate section for contingencies, and give short explanations for uses that crosses a materiality limit (in $$).

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4^th section: Construction cost detail

Give a little more detail as work starts and costs begin to come in.

For example: Site Prep is going to be complex given Vine Brook, shoring up older

high school buildings,

cutting trees, draining

water, adding fill etc.

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5^th section: contingency and reserves

Make each contingency box a live link to additional details on spreadsheets which has amounts used, encumbered, reasons why and leftover budget.

Deliver bad news and good

news here, (e.g. Tariffs on

steel increasing at x%)

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Dashboard should mitigate

unpleasant surprises.

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6^th section: Project schedule overview

Self explanatory!

Provide rolled up view with active rows

visible (i.e. on which work is happening)

Allow for deep dive into categories.

Excessive scrolling should be minimized.

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7^th section: Procurement process

Nice!

Clear explanatory

visual.

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8^th section: Quality assurance

Have an FAQ link at the bottom of the dashboard explaining such terms and why this information matters

This is an important measure for building confidence in the final product, i.e. LHS building

For residents here

is a good

Explanation of what is

Quality assurance.

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9^th Section: Nice to Knows

Grateful that town staff incorporated our suggestion to include such details.

Maybe include a way to incorporate student input such as artwork, essay or any similar creative output at the end.

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Put the ‘school’ in the school building project!!

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The communication need

Assessment of the dashboard as a comprehensive information dissemination solution (CIDS)! (Grade B/B+)

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A dashboard alone does not satisfy all needs. The minimum needed periodically:

1. A one pager
2. A quarterly deep dive-able update for savvy residents
3. A better organized and maintained website.
4. Searchable minutes of meetings
5. A trusted entity providing this information

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Civic Engagement and participation

Information is power today. There is no justification for leaving residents uninformed about how a large capital amount is spent.

Restricting access to information can be seen as an undue exercise of power. Some are in the know, most are in the dark.

Reasons to not share information such as potential misuse of data, or effort involved, while valid are not insurmountable issues.

Ultimately, providing the requested information from canned reports already available in vendors systems is an easy way to start. Even Tyler Technologies’ clunky system (formerly MUNIS) regularly provides data with student information removed.

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A dashboard is a welcome start. However, it’s a partial solution.

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Resources:

City Leader guide on Civic Engagement (Bloomberg-Harvard)

From Sherry Arnstein: landmark framework for civic engagement.pdf

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