Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of letters about Minuteman High School from Sharon Antia, Lincoln’s representative on the Minuteman School Committee. The previous letters were published on January 4 and January 14. She invites readers with questions to email her at Sharon.antia@gmail.com.
To the editor:
On February 23, Lincoln will hold a Special Town Meeting at which we will be asked to vote on two things: whether to approve the amended Minuteman school district’s regional agreement, and whether to withdraw form the Minuteman school district. The new Minuteman regional agreement, which all 16 towns in the district must vote on, has two important changes to the district’s governance.
1) Voting mechanism for school committee members—Under the current structure, each of the 16 towns in the district has one school committee representative, and each representative has one full vote. Some towns send many students and some only send a couple, yet each representative’s vote holds equal value.
With the new amendment, 50 percent of a town’s voting strength will be shared equally among members and 50 percent will be based on that town’s four-year rolling average enrollment. Recognizing that some towns may withdraw from the district and that Lincoln sends only a few students to this high school, it is difficult to determine exactly how this change will impact Lincoln, but it is likely that the value of our vote will be diminished.
At least as important as the actual vote is having a seat at the table and being part of the conversation in the district. As history has shown, we expect that some of our students will want to attend this high school, and the new school will be built in our town. The ability of the Lincoln Planning Board to manage building size, scale, and impact on abutters is constrained by state statute. However, as long as we are part of the district, our representative to the Minuteman School Committee has the ability to question program-driven design such as the proposed new theater.
2) Selection of school committee members—Unlike our K-12 system in which citizens elect school committee members, Minuteman School Committee representatives are appointed by town moderators. One of the proposed amendments will move this appointing power to the Board of Selectmen in each member town (or by the mayor in the case of a city), unless the community provides otherwise by bylaw or charter.
Minuteman School Committee members act, as do K-12 School Committee members, as advocates for public education in their respective schools. Without an election process for a Minuteman School Committee representative, an appointment by the town moderator has provided a balanced alternative to select strong advocates for education.
Minuteman High School has been part of Lincoln’s educational system since its inception in 1971. We have expected its School Committee, just as we expect our K-8 and L-S school committees, to be strong advocates for investments in quality education. This must be part of the conversation as we consider change.
Sincerely,
Sharon Antia, Minuteman School Committee
165 S. Great Rd.
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.
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