by Kamala Soparkar

Please join me in voting to re-elect Eileen Jay to the School Committee on March 7. I have known Eileen for several years as a parent of a high school student and discussed with her many of the issues high school students and their families face. I have always been impressed by Eileen’s thoughtful and measured approach to any issue. I always appreciate that she puts students’ needs at the center of her thinking, while also taking into account their parents, teachers and the physical plants, all of which contribute to a student’s best learning environment.

Over the past six years on the school committee both as chair and as vice-chair, Eileen has dealt directly with the many kinds of issues that school committees face. For example — Policy: Drafting and honing the homework policy. Hiring and supervision of the superintendent: Designing the search and hiring Dr. Hackett. Physical plants: The new Hastings School. As we look to the future and continue to emerge and confront the ongoing social emotional and educational costs of the pandemic to all of our students, I believe Eileen’s willingness to listen to all perspectives, her openness to new ideas and the stability that her experience provides is what our town needs to continue the excellence of the Lexington Public Schools.

— Kamala Soparkar, Winter Street