I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of emails, phone calls and public comment at school committee and PTOs meetings in the last couple of weeks. The poorly conceived and timed opinion presented by Superintendent Lee on Monday - that we should close Highlands without the full vetting of where students would go and the full cost savings shared is not something residents deserve. The minimal savings offered, coupled with cost implications of recent MSBA-partnered improvements, will not plug the gap meaningfully. I have directed the Superintendent to find alternative savings that would preserve Highlands AND programming. I am working on budgetary options that maintain neighborhood elementary schools, including Highlands, for a minimum of one year until we can determine strategic options for the consolidation of neighborhood schools.