The Lexington Public Schools’ School Committee is a regulatory body that oversees the school system, and is an integral part of the operation of the Lexington education system. But few students know what the School Committee actually does—so who are they? And what decisions do they make?

The LPS School Committee is composed of five elected members. It has three main roles as designated by law: to hire, evaluate, and supervise the superintendent; to pass the annual district budget; and to set policy. To accomplish this, the committee is further split into subparts for each role, including members of the committee that are assigned to further standings of Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk, each with different responsibilities. 

The role most students will see the effects of is policy—what sets the standards for the school.  Some policies that students may know about are the homework policy, anti-bullying practices, policies surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, adjustments to curriculum, and technology use. Moreover, policies surrounding field trips are currently being developed.

The LPS School Committee has a variety of ways community advice is taken into account when creating  policy.

“Usually we have one or two students as School Committee members. They are the student representatives on the School Committee. They don’t have a voting role, but they are there to provide feedback at the moment,” Deepika Sawhney, Vice Chair of the School Committee, said. 

Additionally, honorary members have the ability to advocate for what people in LHS desire.

“The other thing that they can do is take what is being discussed back to Lexington High School and what’s happening at LHS in terms of student concerns to our notice,” Sawhney said.

For members of the community not operating as honorary members, there are a variety of other options to comment on or propose a policy, including surveys, forums, individual outreach, and specified teams. However, the most prevalent is Community Speak.

“Anybody can come and speak for about three minutes. Usually, you can talk about anything that is important to you. So usually people come and will say, ‘We need more support over here,’” Sawhney said.

Although the effects of their decisions are often overlooked, the LPS School Committee has an important impact on students’ school experience. 

“While we may not be the person that the child sees, the child will see the teacher and the assistant TA. They’ll see the principal, they’ll see the nurse, they’ll see the person who gives them lunch in the cafeteria, or the bus driver. They don’t necessarily see us, but what structures we put in place enable all of those different things,” Sawhney said. 

Sawhney and Sara Cuthbertson, another School Committee member, both agree that each year and term presents its own challenges. 

“I have spent anywhere from five hours to 30 hours per week on School Committee tasks. On average, I would say that I typically spend around 10-15 hours per week,” Cuthbertson said. 

For Sawhney, she finds a challenge in the absence of commonplace context. 

“At a School Committee level we can see the whole context. And when you can do that, you realize that others—the people who are actually living, they’re a parent in a certain school, that they don’t see the whole context, and they would be surprised by what we are seeing. It’s more of a question of perspective,” Sawhney said.

For Cuthbertson, the greatest challenge lies in the decision-making itself.

“It is always challenging to hear heartfelt, personal stories for or against a particular initiative, and then, after examining all available information, make a decision that you know won’t work the best for that person,” Cuthbertson said. 

Nevertheless, collaborating with educators and working to improve Lexington’s education system are considerable achievements.

“You kids make me very proud. Any time I walk in the center, and it’s an early release and everybody’s there, I’m proud of you kids. I love going to the center [and] seeing all these kids going around. That’s what makes me happy,” Sawhney said.

Note: Vice Chair of the School Committee Deepika Sawhney has stated she will resign early from her third term, and will step down from the Committee in February 2025.