To the editor:
At the Special Town Meeting, Minuteman high School’s Dr. Ed Bouquillon presented a slide I initially thought was disingenuous and absurd. The slide showed Minuteman’s costs decreasing while costs at other voc/tec schools are rising. I later realized it may have been the most insightful slide presented that night.
We saw at the meeting that all three new vocational-technical (Chapter 74) schools in Massachusetts were undersubscribed before new construction and now have waiting lists. If the trend continues, and given this data on neighboring schools along with Gov. Baker’s commitment to vocational education, the new Minuteman school will soon be at capacity.
The new Minuteman High School is being built for 628 students, a significant decrease from the present number of 800. State regulation requires Chapter 74 schools to accept students based on a five-point evaluation process, with “in-district” students being given priority. Legally, schools cannot deny acceptance based on the student having an Individual Education Plan (IEP). However, given the smaller school size coupled with the increased demand, it is safe to say a large percentage of students with IEPs will be no longer make the cut. This is significant because as also noted at the meeting, Minuteman’s current student population includes 47 percent students with an IEP.
The decreasing percentage of students at Minuteman with IEPs will result in lower costs. This will start an interesting feedback loop: with a greater number of high-achieving students attending the school, more higher-achieving students will be attracted to the school, again reducing the number of students with special needs. Students with IEPs will either stay in their comprehensive high school or go to other Chapter 74 schools, increasing their costs while the top students are drawn to Minuteman.
It appears that the mid-2020s end game is Minuteman becoming an elite vocational-technical school focused on hands-on STEM education, attracting the top students while other voc-tech schools pick up the education and costs of students with a higher level of need—students who no longer make the cut at Minuteman. Lincoln students who have in the past benefited the most from attending Minuteman may no longer be eligible.
This brings us full circle to Dr. Bouquillon’s slide showing reduced costs at Minuteman and increasing costs at surrounding voc/tec schools. This is simple game theory (gentrification of vocational-technical education). How disappointing that no one, not even Minuteman, mentioned this likely outcome at the meeting. We in Lincoln will soon be left hosting an elite vocational-technical high school featuring hands-on STEM education and our children who traditionally had the most gain from attending Minuteman will not be able to participate.
Sincerely,
Bob Antia
165 South Great Rd.
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