Editor’s note: See the Lincoln Squirrel posts from Dec. 23, 2015 and Jan. 4, 2016 for more information about the Minuteman regional agreement and the Vocational Education Options Working Group.
To the editor:
The Board of Selectmen urges the town to follow the work of its recently formed Vocational Education Options Working Group (VEOWG). The VEOWG was formed in response to a vote by the School Committee of the Minuteman Regional High School to approve certain amendments to the regional agreement that include the opportunity for seven specific member-towns, including Lincoln, to withdraw from the district unilaterally by a Town Meeting vote taken on or before March 1, 2016. The Lincoln Board of Selectmen has called a Special Town Meeting to be held on February 23, 2016 to consider whether to withdraw, as well as whether to accept the amendments.
The VEOWG is being formed to assist the town in determining whether its interests are best served by: (1) remaining a member of the Minuteman Regional High School district and enabling Lincoln students to attend Minuteman at Lincoln’s expense based on assessment under the regional agreement; or (2) withdrawing from the district and making arrangements to enable Lincoln students to enroll at Minuteman or another vocational high school at Lincoln’s expense on a non-member, tuition-paying basis.
The VEOWG shall prepare a report that describes the advantages of the various options. The report should include an analysis of the relevant educational, financial, practical, and legal considerations. The VEOWG shall conduct interviews and site visits and access data and resources as it deems appropriate.
We invite interested residents to attend the meetings of the Working Group, and/or to follow its activities via the Town’s web site. A dedicated VEOWG web page has been established where meeting agendas and minutes, key background materials and, eventually, the Working Group’s report will be posted.
Please join us for the February 23 Special Town Meeting at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Auditorium to help us make the best decision for the town.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Board of Selectmen:
Noah Eckhouse, Chairman
Peter Braun
Renel Fredriksen
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
Neither this letter nor any document posted on the VEOWG’s dedicated web page tells us who are the appointed members of this Working Group. A list of “members thus far” appears in the January 4th Squirrel story, but that suggests the list is incomplete. Thank you, Lincoln Squirrel, for at least that information. Shouldn’t the composition of any Town board or committee be easy to find on its own web page?