Lexington Man Behind AD Ouster Petition Explains His Position

After news broke that Lexington’s athletic director admitted to doctoring an email and suggesting a lawsuit would be imminent if the Middlesex League did not change its basketball schedule, there was outage among some in the Lexington community.

One resident, John Igoe, a father whose children are all in or out of college, started , the athletic director at Lexington High.

By creating the petition, Igoe said his intention was to establish a position more than it was to actively mount an opposition.

“It’s all about accountability, ethics and the violation of a code of conduct that we can explain to our children,” Igoe said. “For this particular issue, I was motivated by the fact that this is not only a statement about our ethical values in our town among our schools, but it’s a leadership statement about the schools.”

Last week, the Lexington Public Schools confirmed Martin had been placed on a week of unpaid leave after she admitted to fabricating information attributed to a Lexington parent that she included in a group email to Middlesex League ADs. Previously, on Jan. 19, Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash sent an email to those same ADs to correct the record, and Martin has emailed an apology to the parent who was misrepresented.

Speaking with Patch on Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before the School Committee would meet, Igoe said he would not necessarily present the petition as a call to action. Rather, he hoped to gauge the community’s interest in an issue that he felt strongly about. The petition had 101 signatures as of 6:30 p.m. last night.

The School Committee’s agenda for its Jan. 30 meeting did not include an item expressly dealing with the LHS athletic director, the petition or basketball scheduling. Igoe said he planned to attend the meeting, but was not certain he’d speak during the public comment period.

“I don’t have an organization that’s building out a proposal,” Igoe said. “I’m an individual citizen who saw something that’s wrong in the community and the School Committee and administration is not dealing with it.”

READ MORE ON THIS ISSUE

• About the High School Hoops Scheduling Situation
• Lexington AD Martin Suspended Over Doctored Email
• More On the Title IX/Hoops Schedule Situation
• Petition Seeks Ouster of Lexington AD Over Email Imbroglio