To the editor,
On February 23, our town will come together to discuss and vote on the future of career and technical (“vo-tech”) education in Lincoln. We will hear reports from the selectman-appointed Vocational Education Options Working Group (VEOWG) and Lincoln’s Minuteman High School School Committee Representative, Sharon Antia. Regular reports from Ms. Antia have appeared in the local press. The work of the VEOWG is available on the Lincoln town website.
It is important to note a number of things that this vote is not. The vote is not a referendum on the quality of the education found at Minuteman, our current partner. The quality of that education is well documented. We have heard much of it over the years from former Minuteman School Committee member Kemon Taschioglou and current member Sharon Antia. We have seen the success of its graduates in letters to the paper, and in testimonials from employers of Minuteman graduates. And, most recently, we have witnessed the poise and heard the eloquence of current students at the recent Lincoln forum on our upcoming Special Town Meeting in comments delivered by Minuteman senior Andrew Blair.
Also, the vote is not a vote on the proposed Minuteman building project. The need for a building project is well documented and supported by all. This is reflected in the MSBA’s acceptance of the project into its program where 44 percent of the project will be supported by state funding. The vote(s) are to determine the future of our financial and governance relationship with Minuteman.
It must be kept in mind that the town of Lincoln did not initiate these votes. Under the current regional agreement, governance is “one town, one vote.” Lincoln sends a relatively small number of students to Minuteman, yet we have a vote that is equal to towns that send a much larger number of students. The communities with a larger percent of the student body want a larger say. This not surprising, nor is it necessarily unfair.
Unfortunately for Lincoln, the restructuring proposed would make Lincoln’s voice much smaller, and its financial contribution much, much larger. In fact, it appears that the annual cost of education of a child at Minuteman would jump from approximately $25,000 to a range of $40,000 to $55,000. These figures will be further explained in the presentation at Special Town Meeting. Similar changes to costs are happening for other towns in the district—Wayland, Weston, Dover, Carlisle, Sudbury and Boxborough.
But there is a choice. Lincoln can elect to opt out of membership in the district. If we opt out of the full costs assessed to members, we might still have the option of sending our children to Minuteman, for a tuition cost far below the cost of membership. In addition, opting out allows our children to elect to attend any of the other career and technical schools in our area, when space is available. As members of the MCTHS district, our children can elect to go to other schools only if a specific program is not offered at Minuteman. Tuition costs at these other schools are lower than projected Minuteman tuition.
The danger of opting out of membership in the Minuteman district is that Lincoln students are not guaranteed admission to either Minuteman or any other neighboring school. In fact, non-membership in a district means we have no guaranteed admission to any career and technical education for our students. However, at this time, given current enrollments and population projections, the risk seems low. And at a savings of approximately $25,000 per student per year at an average of six students a year, the savings over time are not inconsequential. These are the questions Lincoln must come together to discuss and weigh the risk versus the benefits.
Again, this is not a vote Lincoln chose to have. The restructuring of the Minuteman regional agreement, at the initiation of other member towns, has us coming together to decide the future direction of an important element of our K-12 educational system—how best to provide career and technical educational opportunities for our children and for future generations.
Sincerely,
Sara Mattes
71 Conant 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 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.
Sara Mattes is so eloquent. She is also fair-minded and has clearly explained both the pros and the cons of the decisions we must make Tuesday night.
With her long experience as Selectman and member of important regional committees, she is truly the doyenne of Lincoln public policy. I always pay attention to what she writes.