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Monday, February 11, 2013

LETTER: LHS Grad Supports Ash, AD Martin

A recent Lexington High grad says Naomi Martin 'was one of the most professional and enthusiastic members of the faculty I encountered at LHS.'

Editor's Note: John Bernstein, a recent Lexington High graduate, wrote this letter to Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash in support of Athletic Director Naomi Martin, who was recently suspended for a week for doctoring an email sent to Middlesex League athletic directors. Bernstein asked that his letter be posted to Patch.  Dear Superintendent Ash, I am a recent Lexington High alumnus, former track and cross-country runner and current collegiate athlete at the University of Rochester. I wanted to provide a word of support for Naomi Martin on behalf of the many athletes she has helped and supported throughout their high school careers. As a captain for several teams and sports editor for the high school paper, I had the pleasure of meeting …

TypicalLexingtonParent

9:56 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013

Whos the boys basketball team playing in the state tournament? Oh ya right   more ›

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Lexington Man Behind AD Ouster Petition Explains His Position

John Igoe, the man who initiated an online petition calling for the immediate removal of Lexington’s athletic director, told Patch he won't necessarily push for her ouster.

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 a petition calling for, among other things, the immediate termination of Naomi Martin, 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…

Carl Eric Easton

10:40 am on Saturday, February 2, 2013

Rick - it's about accountability - and there's a life lesson in there as well - if your going to make big waves be prepared when you slip up and the current turns against you.   more ›

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Petition Seeks Ouster of Lexington AD Over Email Imbroglio

A Change(.org) gonna come?

  An online petition is calling for, among other things, the dismissal of Lexington’s athletic director, who admitted last week to doctoring an email that immediately preceded the Middlesex League’s Title IX-driven decision to abandon its doubleheader basketball schedule. Last week, Naomi Martin, the athletic director at Lexington High, was given a week of unpaid leave after it came to light that she had fabricated information attributed to a Lexington parent in a November email to athletic directors across the Middlesex League. On Jan. 19, Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash sent an email to that same audience attempting to “correct the record” and calling Martin’s actions “unacceptable.” Earlier this week, a petition hit the interwebs …

Thursday, January 24, 2013

More On the Title IX/Hoops Schedule Situation

A Lexington parent caught most of the blame, but it was a now-suspended AD’s doctored emails that spurred the Middlesex League’s Title IX-driven decision to discontinue its doubleheader scheduling format for boys and girls basketball.

  The story went something like this: A Lexington parent was threatening to sue, so the Middlesex League deep-sixed its doubleheader scheduling format, which had been in place since the mid-1990s. That was the yarn spun at the start of the 2012-2013 basketball season. It was fodder for players, parents, fans and bystanders alike, and got picked up by multiple local media outlets, including Patch. Most likely, it was reported that way because that’s how the coaches and athletic directors told it to reporters and editors. And most likely that’s how they told the story because that’s how they heard it themselves. Except only that’s not how it went down. It’s true that Lexington resident Kathryn Robb is at the bottom of it. For two years Robb …

Rick Jackson

10:17 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

She lied in her letter - got caught - essentially got fined $2000 and publicly humiliated. Probably good enough punishment, though they could have fired her too. Not sure I see the connection to a financial audit. Besides the athletic money is small potatoes in a $70 million budget. I mostly feel bad for the parent - she didn't deserve this. However, most of the folks calling for Martin's head …   more ›

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Lexington AD Martin Suspended Over Doctored Email

A school department spokesperson confirmed today, Jan. 23, Naomi Martin will be suspended without pay, beginning tomorrow for fabricating information in an email to Middlesex League athletic directors.

Lexington Athletic Director Naomi Martin has been suspended without pay for one week after admitting she doctored portions of an email from a parent, which she included in her own communication with Middlesex League athletic directors. The suspension begins tomorrow, Jan. 24, as the Globe has reported and a spokesperson for the Lexington Public Schools confirmed. In the group email, sent on Nov. 15, Martin requests permission from her colleagues to allow Lexington to play a single-gender basketball schedule in order to bring the program into compliance with Title IX. She also states in the email that a Lexington parent had informed school officials threatened a lawsuit and was “prepared to file her complaint against the entire Middlesex …

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TypicalLexingtonParent

12:27 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2013

Hilary, this is true. However, it usually is a very bad sign if a freshman is starting on varsity. Esp. in the contact sports   more ›

Friday, January 11, 2013

About the High School Hoops Scheduling Situation

Shortly before the basketball season began, the Middlesex League changed its schedule so that boys and girls teams play at opposite venues. Previously, the boys and girls varsity teams played doubleheaders at the same site.

Looks like Lexington had a hand in igniting another revolution, only this one has to do with high school basketball.   Shortly before the basketball season began, the Middlesex League changed its schedule so that boys and girls teams play at opposite venues. Previously, the boys and girls varsity teams played doubleheaders at the same site. It’s been reported that the last-minute schedule swapping was prompted when a Lexington parent threatened to sue over noncompliance with Title IX. But Kathryn Robb, the woman who triggered the change, claims she’s been beating the gender equity drum for more than a year – and never threatened legal action. Passed in 1972, Title IX requires gender equity for boys and girls in all educational programs …

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Diana Glass

3:47 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hi, John... I appreciate your calm response! I don't know anything about her at all, as my child does her sport outside of school. However, I have felt the same way about the superintendent, so perhaps it is an issue of overall educational leadership in town.   more ›

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