The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

schools

Letter to the editor: more input on school planning is vital

To the editor:

I am motivated to write this letter as a result of recent discussions about the school project. Following the January 23 public forum, the outreach committee conducted a survey which brought in 156 responses. While this is a good number related to the number of attendees, it is not a large enough number to give one confidence as to the eventual outcome of the effort put in by the School Committee, the School Building Committee, and the committee working on the community center.

The projects are progressing apace, but the resultant budget will cause a significant increase to our taxes. We are talking of options for the school ranging from $70–$90 million. When adding the community center’s $12–15 million, the resulting amount approaches $100 million. Thus, I believe it is critical that as many of you as are able and are interested should attend our discussions to ensure that the end result will truly reflect the wishes of our community and thus not fail at the ballot box.

Our meetings are well publicized on the School Building Committee website: lincolnsbc.org. We look forward to seeing you at our next meetings.

Sincerely,

Peter Sugar (School Building Committee member)
133 Chestnut Circle

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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Community center planners mull input including a Smith site

A group of Lincoln design professionals wrote a memo to campus planners urging that they consider locating the community center on the current Smith school site rather than on the Hartwell side of campus, but the reaction among community center planners was lukewarm last week.

At its February 14 meeting, the Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee reviewed feedback collected on the initial set of six concepts for a community center. Most popular with residents at the community workshops on January 30 were Schemes 2, 3A, and 3B. The latter two options call for retaining and renovating all three Hartwell pods, but 3B put some of the parking between the main Hartwell building and Lincoln Road where the Strat’s Place playground used to be. Residents and the CCPPDC liked the building shape and location of Scheme 3B and the parking in Scheme 3A, so architect Maryann Thompson will include an illustration with that combination in the next round of designs she’ll present at the March 13 CCPPDC meeting.

The CCPPDC also decided that, regardless of which option is selected, there will not be parking on the Strat’s Place site, and any pods not folded into the community center will be renovated (work that would have to include new windows and bathrooms as well as fire code and handicapped accessibility upgrades). However, that renovation work could be done separately from the community center construction.

“We’re waiting to see what the school [which owns the pods] is going to do with these buildings,” CCPPDC Vice Chair Margit Griffith said. “The community is not necessarily aware of who owns them and who has the right and the budget” to demolish or renovate them.

The Smith idea

The February 12 memo addressed to both the CCPPDC and the School Building Committee addressed several issues with the school and community center proposals. Among its recommendations: putting the community center on the space currently occupied by the old Smith building. That space would be freed up if the town chooses for school option B6, which concentrates the building on the north side of the ballfield. The authors note that there is community interest in preserving the 1953 Smith gym, which has historically appealing wooden rafters and floors as well as a stage.

Sketches of two concepts for a community center on the Smith side of the campus (click to enlarge).

In response to the memo, Thompson presented two options for a west-wide community center, one with 35,400 square feet and the other with 28,600 square feet. A 19,000-square-foot building would be sufficient to meet the needs of the Council on Aging and the Parks and Recreation Department, according to 2014 estimates.

Both plans would be more expensive than any of the east-side proposals due to higher construction and renovation costs associated with the larger footprints, though Thompson did not have exact cost estimates as of last week. Reusing some of the Smith building is also less than ideal for seniors because of the long hallway they would have to traverse. The gym’s acoustical properties also make it problematic for use by seniors, Council on Aging Director Carolyn Bottum noted. Furthermore, despite the larger total footprint, the rest of the community center might actually be a bit squeezed since the gym takes up so much of the space, Thompson added.

“Programmatically this doesn’t work well, according to the earlier community center study committee,” resident Sara Mattes commented. “To spend more money on rehabbing something that doesn’t meet programs needs and requires additional parking, paving over what was going to be green space, seems to be a bit of an anathema.”

“If it was cheaper [than the Hartwell options], then maybe the town would say it’s worth suffering some of the challenges that go along with it, but learning that it’s at least as expensive and maybe more, as well as more expensive on the operating side—I don’t know how we could justify it to the town,” CCPPDC member Tim Christenfeld said.

Of the Smith building, resident Owen Beenhouwer (also an architect) said, “I think it’s a candidate for coming down. I think we need to be building for the future and not just keeping the past half alive.”

Thompson acknowledged that “you would never get a gym like that now” with its wooden rafters and natural light. “I don’t think it should get torn down, but I don’t know what to do with it.”

The memo authors urged the school and community center planners to hold a joint charrette as soon as possible to better coordinate campus planning and discuss possible ways to keep the Smith gym.

The memo was written by Doug Adams, Gary Anderson, Ken Bassett, Lucretia Giese, Ken Hurd, Judith Lawler, Brooks Mostue, David O’Neil, Steven Perlmutter, Dana Robbat, and Peter Sugar. Adams, Bassett, Perlmutter, and Sugar were members of the School Building Advisory Committee that was formed after the 2012 defeat of the school plan that had been accepted for funding by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). Giese and Robbat are among the founders of Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln.

Adams and Bassett were also members of the “Fireside Seven,” a group of Lincoln architects and designers who developed an L-shaped design alternative after the 2012 vote in hopes of retaining MSBA funding. That alternative was rejected by the agency as being too different from what it had approved originally.

News acorns

Democratic town caucus times given

A previous news item about the March 3 date of the Lincoln Democrats’ caucus omitted the time. Registration for the caucus begins at 9:30 a.m. and the event begins at 10 a.m.

Jazz concert on Wednesday

The CJALL jazz concert with Jimmy Mazzy & The Last Minute Men originally planned for February 7  was rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Bemis Hall. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 8 p.m. Sponsored by Manson Solomon and The Friends of the Lincoln Public Library. CJALL played old-time New Orleans jazz classics at the Colonial Inn in Concord for 30 years. Accompanying Jimmy are Moshe Feldman and Carol Moeller as well as trombone, sax, cornet, clarinet and vocalists.

Learn about natural burial on Feb. 21

“What (In) Earth Is A Green Burial?” is the title of a talk by Candace Currie on Wednesday, Feb. 21 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room. Going back to burial traditions prior to the Civil War, all burials were natural or “green” burials. Come learn about re-establishing these traditions. And yes, natural burials are legal in Massachusetts, but few cemeteries in the state are performing them. Find out why and how you can change the rules for your cemetery or create a new burial ground that conserves open space. Currie is director of planning and cemetery development for Mount Auburn Cemetery and director of Green Burial Massachusetts, Inc.

Series on domestic violence continues at First Parish

“Hidden in Plain Sight: Domestic Violence Awareness” continues at the First Parish in Lincoln on Wednesday, Feb. 21 and Wednesday, March 17 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the Parish House (14 Bedford Rd.). This series, which began on January 23, is designed to raise awareness of domestic violence and abuse in Lincoln and the surrounding communities. Ministerial Intern Terry Cummings will lead the program, along with Lauren Montanaro, community engagement specialist with REACH Beyond Domestic Violence.

At the February 21 session, participants will assess different situations and learn about the type of skills needed to respond to the situations appropriately. For those interested in becoming a domestic violence volunteer, this class will provide a preview of an aspect of the training program offered by REACH and similar organizations.

On March 27, First Parish will host a vigil to honor and remember survivors of domestic violence and abuse, as well as those who support people in need of help to cope with their situations. The vigil will include prayer, shared reflections, music and song. The meetings are open to all and are free of charge. To register, please contact Terry at terry@fplincoln.org.

Composting event on Feb. 24

The Lincoln Public Library will host “Composting with Adam Janauskas” on Saturday, Feb. 24 from 2–4 p.m. Janauskas of City Compost will help attendees learn about what to include in a compost pile, the factors that go into making a healthy compost, and what’s required for a good home composting system.

Introduction to music at L-S

Parents of eighth-graders in Sudbury and Lincoln are invited to visit Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium lobby to learn more about the L-S Music Department. Meet the music faculty, tour the music spaces and learn more about music offerings at the high school. Parents of students in chorus, band or orchestra, those who sing or study outside of school, or who just loves music are welcome. For more information or questions, email lsfriendsofmusic@gmail.com or visit www.lsfom.org.

Community center group looks at next set of ideas on Tuesday

The current layout of the Hartwell area and the available parking on the Ballfield Road campus (click to enlarge).

Residents can see the next round of design ideas for a community center at the regular meeting of the Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 4:45 p.m. in Hartwell Pod A.

The CCPPDC and architects showed six options at workshops on January 30 with restimated price tages of $13 million to $16.5 million and have been going through comments left by residents on sticky notes. They also welcome feedback via email at CCPPDC@lincolntown.org.

The committee is also working to incorporate the work of the School Building Committee. Early results from the SBC workshops on January 23 indicated that 77 percent of attendees preferred a mostly new school building at an estimated cost of $89.8 million.

The SBC is taking the lead on campus planning because the school is a much larger project and also because the school owns the buildings on the east side of the campus, even those not being used by the Lincoln School. The four buildings on that side—the main Hartwell building and the three pods—collectively house the school district administration, the Lincoln Integrated Preschool, the Magic Garden Children’s Center, the Parks and Recreation office and program spaces, LEAP, storage spaces, and the school’s repair shop.

“There has to be a place for all of these things between the two projects. This is why we’re taking a whole-campus approach to the planning and why the CCPPDC is following the SBC; we’re not at the same design stage on purpose,” said CCPPDC Vice Chair Margit Griffith. “They refine, we refine; we share feedback, they share feedback. Much of what they do will inform our process.”

77% in survey prefer a mostly new school building

An outline of Option B6 with new construction in blue and renovated areas in gray. The new southeast portion would have two floors. (Click image to enlarge.)

The vast majority of residents surveyed after January 23 presentations on options for the Lincoln School preferred the most compact and expensive scheme costing an estimated $89.8 million. Option B6, which concentrates the school on the north side of the ballfield, includes a two-story classroom segment.

The School Building Committee and architects will host a “mini workshop” showcasing work that’s been done since the January 23 workshops on Friday, Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m. in Bemis Hall.

Of the 156 residents who completed a feedback survey after the two community workshops in January, 77 percent preferred Option B6, which calls for a mostly new building that retains the two gyms and auditorium (see pgs. 38-43 in the January 23 slideshow). Fifteen percent preferred a comprehensive renovation (Option A3.4, pgs. 32-36) with an estimated price tag of $88.3 million, while 5 percent chose the repair-only scheme costing $48.7 million.

The School Building Committee is still going through the written comments in the surveys. However, SBC Chair Chris Fasciano said there had been feedback on the fact that the three comprehensive renovation options (A1.1, A3.4 and B6) call for three fewer classrooms than the school now has, or would have in the “optimal program” concepts shown at the State of the Town meeting in November (excluding the new preK classrooms). “We have asked the design team to come up with concepts that include those classrooms in the plans. We hope to see them soon,” he said.

All of the latest series of options call for moving preK from Hartwell to the main school building, which would also contain an area for school administration while leaving the district administrative offices (superintendent of schools, etc.) at Hartwell. If preK does in fact move, other functions, such as technology might move out of the school and into Hartwell, but “it’s important to note that no final decisions have been made at this point in the SBC process,” Fasciano said.

Some of those who attended the workshops wondered if the school would quickly become too small if the Oriole Landing project, which calls for 60 units of mixed-income housing, is approved and more families with children move into town.

“Most of the housing in Lincoln is single-family housing that could turn over at any time, so flexibility is an important part of any plan. We’re confident that the current designs could accommodate normal fluctuations in student enrollment, including any potential increase from construction at Oriole Landing,” Fasciano said, adding that the 2012 MSBA project had the same number of classrooms as the current essential program.

In addition to the regular SBC meetings (the next is February 13), there are other meetings on the school project coming up. The design team and some of the architects who live in Lincoln will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room to explore design ideas for the project concepts. On March 7 at 7 p.m. (location TBA), sustainability consultant Bill Maclay and the desing team will  talk about the sustainability implications of the range of project concepts.

A second set of community workshops will take place on March 13.

Letter to the editor: more coordination needed between building committees

To the editor:

Following the meetings of the Community Center and the School Building Committees during the past couple of weeks, it is clear for me that much work has been done. On the other hand, it is not so clear whether one or the other of these groups perceives it to be their responsibility to seek how to best coordinate or integrate the projects. During the recent meetings, while there was lip service paid to the goal of integration and efficiency, no specific proposals or comments were made. Perhaps such coordination is being left to later, as time does not appear to be anyone’s concern.

At one of the School Building Committee workshops, one of the discussion groups suggested using the part of Smith School that would be demolished under the B6 option for the community center. The SBC had no comment at this moment.

While there is a group seeking to ensure communication between the two groups, it does not appear to me there is any real effort seeking to think of both projects together as one effort. If left to the town to suggest such an approach at Town Meeting, my concern is it will be too late and very confusing.

Sincerely,

Robert deNormandie
45 Trapelo 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.

Workshops focus on three main school project options

The Lincoln School today.

The SBC has narrowed the Lincoln School project options down to three, and architects presented them to residents at community workshops on January 23.

Attendees also heard detailed price estimates from another firm, as well as information on taxation and borrowing scenarios from Finance Committee Vice Chair Andrew Paine, who recapped some of the information from the presentation by FinCom Chair Jim Hutchinson at a multi-board meeting on January 9.

The first set of options considered by the SBC was for an “optimal program” of 178,041 square feet, as shown on pages 7-8 of SMMA architect Joel Seeley’s presentation. (The current building is 148,464 square feet.) Those options ranged in price from $115.6 million to $120.3 million, so the committee asked SMMA to return with some less expensive concepts. The resulting four “A” options retained the L-shaped school on the north and west sides of the ballfield, while the “B” options concentrated just on the north and “C” on the west.

The next round, the “essential program” (pg. 9-10) consisted of eight “A” and “B” concepts calling for 158,171 square feet and ranging from $73.6 million to $100.4 million. The SBC and the architects then added back some of the space cut from the “optimal” concepts to come up with five “essential–refined” options (pg. 11-12) of 160,971 square feet. At this week’s meeting, they presented three options (A1.1, A3.4, and B6) as well as estimates for repair-only and repair-and-renovation options.

  • Repair only – $48.7 million

Install new HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems, add a fire sprinkler system, do accessibility and building code upgrades, replace the roof and the older uninsulated windows, do minimal roadway improvement.

  • Repair plus basic renovation only – $59.2 million

Make the repairs above but replace all windows, do moderate roadway improvements, install new interior finishes (cabinetry, doors, etc), and replace the Smith boiler room.

The three newest options call for:

  • Demolishing some or all of the older Smith building (and more, for Option B6)
  • Adding central administration offices
  • Adding three pre-K classrooms currently located in the Hartwell building
  • Adding a central kitchen and a dining commons area that would also be used for grade-level gatherings, project-based learning or extra art/drama space as needed
  • Adding a connector between the Brooks building and the Reed gym

Two of those options (A3.4 and B6) include hubs for grades 3-8—“neighborhoods” with classrooms as well as breakout, small group, special education, and resource rooms surrounding “a collaboration space providing for flexible, differentiated learning,” SMMA architect Joel Seeley explained. Option B6 calls for demolishing everything except the two gyms, the auditorium section, and the 1994 media center portion. It would consolidate the footprint on the north side of campus, adding a second floor on the east side for grades 7 and 8.

  • Option A1.1 – $75 million (15,538 SF demolition, 29,700 SF new construction) – pg. 27-30 of the presentation
  • Option A3.4 – $88.3 million (10,937 SF demolition, 37,550 SF new construction) – pg. 32-36
  • Option B6 – $89.8 million (72,497 SF demolition, 77,125 SF new construction) – pg. 38-43

The latter three options are not optimal in terms of the number and size of classrooms and hubs—”this is a compromise as we think about the budgetary impact,” said Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall. However, they all represent an upgrade educationally, and Option B6 in particular “offers us a huge improvement in the way we can teach and the way in which kids have the opportunity to learn,” she said.

As teachers in the new Hanscom Middle School have discovered, hubs and spaces of varying sizes “have been a catalyst for thinking about the ways we teach,” McFall said. “We need spaces like this to give students the opportunity to work in teams, foster social and emotional interactions, be curious and problem-solve and debate. This allows us that flexibility to be creative.”

Option B6 may also offer the most flexibility for a future addition if there should be a spike in school enrollment, and Seeley said future refinements might indicate ground-level or vertical expansion possibilities. One resident worried that the town could outgrow the school more quickly than expected if 60 new units of mixed-income housing are approved.

Repair estimates have gone up

The estimated cost of a repair-only project has jumped from Dore and Whittier’s $29.2 million in 2015 to $48.9 million for a project beginning in the second quarter of 2020. However, the 2015 figure did not include any improvements to roads and parking, landscaping, stormwater management, or utility infrastructure, nor did it take into account the cost of phasing or temporary accommodations for students during construction.

The latest cost estimates were prepared by owner’s project manager Daedalus Projects using data from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which tracks all school construction spending in the state. The cost of new construction has climbed from an average of $367 per square foot in 2015 to a projected $471 in 2019, said Shane Nolan, senior project manager at Daedalus. Contributing factors include a building boom in Boston’s Seaport district and construction of the casino in Everett, which are leading to labor shortages and high demand for materials and equipment, he said.

Borrowing limits

Echoing Finance Committee Chair Jim Hutchinson’s statements at a multi-board meeting on January 9, FinCom Vice Chair Andrew Payne said that Lincoln’s bond advisors have indicated that the town could borrow $100 million for the school and community center projects and perhaps more while still maintaining its AAA bond rating.

State guidelines set a bond debt limit for Lincoln of $106 million (the town currently has about $9 million in outstanding debt), but since the bonding would go toward a school and a community center, getting approval to go over that limit should be “straightforward,” he added.

Property tax impacts

What will this mean for property tax bills? If the town borrowed $100 million over a 30-year period, property tax bills could go up by as much as 20 percent, with the average single-family tax bill climbing from $15,185 in fiscal 2017 to $17,702, assuming a bond interest rate of 4 percent (pgs. 13 and 15 of the FinCom’s presentation). The committee’s scenarios use bond interest rates of 4 and 5 percent, though the current rate is just below 3 percent (pg. 18).

To cushion the blow, the FinCom recommends using some of the town’s debt stabilization fund (currently $4.7 million) to pay down some of the balance for the first two or three years of debt service, so a 15 percent tax hike could be “smoothed” to three years of 5 percent increases.

Comments from several residents indicated mixed feelings. While many cringed at the potential tax hike, most also dismissed the repair-only or repair-and-renovation options, and some even wondered whether classrooms could be added.

On Tuesday, Jan. 30, residents will hear about possible designs and costs for another major construction project: the community center. There will be identical sessions from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m in Hartwell pod B.

Considering and comparing school options on Tuesday

An important milestone in planning for the Lincoln School project arrives on Tuesday, when residents will have a chance to voice opinions and ask questions about a range of renovation and construction concepts.

In November and December, architects presented options for a mostly new school (the “B” options) or renovating and adding to the existing building (the “A” options). On January 10, the School Building Committee saw a subset of those concepts: option A1, four variations on option A3, and the least expensive “B” concept. Estimates for those six options start at $73 million, whereas a repair-only project would cost about $48 million. However, cost estimates and building design sketches are very approximate at this stage, the SBC noted.

The identical workshops will be on Tuesday, Jan. 23 from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. in the Reed Gym.

At both sessions, the Finance Committee will also provide a high-level overview of updated financial parameters. Preliminary finance numbers were discussed at the multiboard meeting earlier this month. The workshops will serve as an opportunity to make comparisons in advance of a special Town Meeting on June 9, when they will a vote on a preliminary design.

The framework for evaluating choices includes these guiding principles:

Educational program:

  • Create engaging and inspiring learning spaces
  • Foster 21st-century learning skills
  • Facilitate communication and collaboration
  • Optimize connection to the natural environment
  • Integrate pre-K into the Lincoln School

Community:

  • Campus feel — maintain or enhance the connection with the outdoors and other parts of campus
  • C0mmunity spaces — enhance and/or add spaces shared with the community such as the auditorium. a dining commons, and gymnasiums.
  • Sustainability — provide a sustainable, energy-efficient and healthy building
  • Financial responsibility — provide a long-term, financially responsible solution.

SBC consultants are further refining the baseline repair concept to get a firmer understanding of the minimum cost, and they are also working with sustainability expert Bill Maclay to analyze the energy and lifetime sustainability impacts of each concept.

L-S parents protest proposed cuts to music program

letterTo the editor:

The Lincoln-Sudbury Friends of Music (LSFOM), a committed group of parent volunteers, would like to express our strong objection to proposed cuts to the L-S music program and our unwavering support for Michael Bunting, the L-S choral director.

The L-S administration is proposing a cut to the L-S music program that is far more than a reduction in the availability of choral blocks. These short-sighted changes would devastate the music program and make it difficult to rebuild. We respectfully ask you to take a minute to familiarize yourself with the far-reaching impacts of what the L-S administration is positioning as a mere “scheduling” issue.

The proposed cuts are as follows:

  • Elimination of an entire block of choral instruction. As a practical matter, this cut would make it impossible for many students to fit Chorus or Chamber Singers into their schedules.
  • Elimination of two music electives (Guitar and Songwriting).
  • Reduction of Mr. Bunting’s position to a part-time position, which is untenable for him financially, and may cause LS to lose this treasured and irreplaceable faculty member.
  • In the bigger picture, this cut threatens to destroy L-S’s well-nurtured arts program.

On our website, www.lsfom.org, we have summarized some of the contributions that Mr. Bunting offers to our school and community, from directing the vocals for the L-S musicals, to running the L-S Chamber Singers, to supporting L-S’s five a cappella groups, to organizing school and community concerts, to supporting students in elite singing competitions. Please see our website for a more detailed list.

Mr. Bunting also contributes to our community in many intangible ways through his joyful pursuit of music. Many students have found a home at L-S in the music program through his and Mr. Tom Grandprey’s infectious love for music.

Ten years ago, the music program suffered cuts similar to those now proposed, and it took almost five years under Mr. Bunting’s leadership to bring the program back to life. In fact, one could argue that even today, our music offerings pale in comparison to what is available in other comparably excellent MetroWest public high schools. On our website, we offer a chart that shows the contrast.

While choral enrollment numbers may dip occasionally, it would be a mistake for L-S to overreact to any short-term dip in enrollment with devastating cuts in offerings. Only a robust choral program can continue to attract and retain students and deliver excellence, and cutting core courses and electives will only depress enrollment in this essential element of arts education.

LS should be looking at how to enhance its current music offerings — commensurate with those other excellent local high schools — under Mr. Bunting’s leadership, rather than cutting its program and risking losing this exceptional educator. Even the best part-time Choral Director would not have the time or capacity to provide anywhere near the offerings and support — not to mention dedication and vision — that Mr. Bunting now provides our students in his full-time position.

Our community has successfully fought against such cuts before. Just last year, the Sudbury community protested cuts to the Curtis Middle School music program, and was able to save that program. We know that protecting the arts is a treasured value for our students, parents and the community.

It is gratifying that over 1,200 people have signed a student petition against the cuts. This is more people than voted in the last town election concerning the proposed new fire station. We encourage you to sign and share the petition. Mr. Bunting’s current and former students, on their own initiative, also organized a student concert to celebrate his contributions on January 10.

We encourage anyone concerned about these cuts to take further action. It is urgent that you please take the time to express your support for the preservation of our L-S music and arts program, and for Mr. Bunting retaining his full-time choral director position, directly to L-S Superintendent and Principal Bella Wong at bella_wong@lsrhs.net and to the L-S School Committee at lsschoolcomm@town.sudbury.ma.us.

Sincerely,

The L-S Friends of Music
lsfriendsofmusic@gmail.com

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.