schools

Letter to the editor: New Hanscom School is a great model

March 16, 2017

To the editor:

Back in December, I responded to a request to explain why a number of residents opposed and ultimately helped to defeat the 2012 school building project. Although many were alarmed by the proposal to cut the trees and sacrifice the central playing fields, in essence “paving paradise to put up a parking lot,” I was particularly concerned with the interior environment and the plan for an outdated, dehumanizing cell-block layout of classrooms and corridors. The ill-fated plan offered an uninspired, mediocre environment in which to develop, learn and teach.

Then on Monday, I had the good fortune of touring the newly opened Hanscom Middle School with a small group of parents and residents led by Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall and School Committee chair Jennifer Glass. This new school incorporates much of what our superintendent has been describing in her vision for the Lincoln schools for several years. Even though architecture and particularly interiors are best experienced to be truly understood and appreciated, I will highlight a few exciting features that I gleaned from the tour.

Upon entering the Hanscom facility, one feels immediately welcomed. Just past the security entrance, a long, light-colored wooden bench leads one to the two-story common area with an open stage and grand stair to the second level. Rather than traditional indestructible concrete block, the walls are painted drywall in warm color tones that mitigate the austere white of LED and occasional fluorescent lighting. The customary cool grays, blues and greens found in many institutional buildings are minimal, and used merely as accents in flooring patterns, door frames and some furniture, albeit in warmer tones. Not only do people look healthier, they generally feel better about themselves in such spaces, and the entire experience is one that evokes an implied trust that students are mature enough to appreciate and take pride in this environment.

Secondly, there is an abundance of diffused natural light from a variety of sources, including windows and skylights, some of which are visible through interior glass partitions. As a result, one is aware of the natural rhythm of the day whether it is sunny or cloudy outside, morning or afternoon.

Thirdly, there are a variety of flexible room types, sizes and shapes, all organized around age-appropriate “neighborhoods” based on the various grades. Rooms and spaces have a variety of ceiling heights and are not all rectilinear, creating interesting juxtapositions and adjacencies that do not feel institutional. Also, their adjacencies lend themselves to multiple uses ranging from larger classrooms to smaller spaces appropriate for coaching students who may need individual help. In each of the various neighborhoods, there are rooms set up to accommodate a range of instruction, from a group of students focusing on a single subject or project, to individual quiet reading areas full of comfortable cushions and benches and a teacher circulating to help students as needed.

Rather than being long and bleak, corridors are short and come in a variety of shapes as they connect various classrooms and neighborhoods. Transitions between classes are orderly, and Becky reported that students need little, if any, supervision for disruptive behavior that often accompany the cellblock model.

There is really so much more to tell, but in summary, the highly organized but relaxed layout, the variety of interior spaces and the use of color and natural light is masterful in how children and teachers are treated with dignity, visibly inspiring a passion for learning and teaching. This is the model that should guide the planning of the Lincoln School in the next year if we are to offer a viable 21st-century learning community. And I believe this should be our highest priority as we gather for Town Meeting in less than two weeks.

Thanks again to Becky and Jennifer for making the tour available. If the opportunity arises again, I urge others to visit as well.

Sincerely,

Ken Hurd
21 Lexington 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.

Candidates offer views on wide range of issues

March 13, 2017

Twelve of the residents who are on the ballot for Lincoln’s local election gathered to answer questions at a moderated candidate forum at Lincoln Woods on March 11.

Before the forum, each candidate was asked by the Lincoln Woods Advisory Council, which organized the event, to respond in writing to two questions. Those answers, which were the basis for much of Saturday’s discussion, were published in the Lincoln Squirrel in three batches last week but have now been compiled into a single post here. That compilation includes a previously unpublished response from Jonathan Dwyer, candidate for the Board of Selectmen, who was not at the forum.

The videotaped event (from which these photos were taken) is available online here. Forum questions from moderator August Sanders and the candidates’ answers are excerpted below.

Melinda Abraham

Running unopposed to reelection as a Bemis trustee (one year)

Q: What can we do to increase engagement and diversity?

Abraham noted that the Bemis Free Lecture Series has had several speakers from WGBH because one of the former trustees had a connection there. “We were taking advantage of a one-time opportunity… but we’d like to engage additional speakers. Trying to do it with our limited budget has been our challenge,” she said. One possibility is engaging people who are already in the area on a book your so the trust doesn’t have to reimburse for travel.

Jennifer Glass

Running against Allen Vander Meulen for one-year vacancy on Board of Selectmen; current chair, School Committee

Q: How do you respond to those who might think you’re running for Selectman to get more clout to push through a school project?

A: “Certainly there’s a little piece of that that is true, in that we are on the verge as a town of making generational decisions” on issues including a community center, Parks and Recreation, affordable housing and South Lincoln, Glass said. “A school project is one of them, though clearly it represents the largest dollar amount. What I would say is I have a lot of experience, because we’ve been talking about a school project for so long [and we need to] see all of these parts in context with each other. I’ve had the opportunity to reach out to a lot of boards and citizens in town. I understand what it is to make mistakes, to learn from them, and own up to them keeping the conversation going even when it’s hard. What I’m really interested in is looking at our community as a whole… who are we going to be for the next several decades.

Q: How can we create affordable housing while being mindful of the costs associated with such as effort?

“One of our core values is trying to be as diverse a community as possible… Yes, [affordable housing] may draw on resources, but that’s OK. I think that’s an investment in who we are and who we want to be.”

Noting that the next Board of Selectmen will consist of two newcomers and a member with only one year of experience, Glass said, “I think it’s a really an opportunity. We have that chance to start a little bit from a clean slate and ask question—why is it done this way, how do we make what’s working and move it forward?”

Lynn DeLisi

Running unopposed for Planning Board (three years)

Q: You wrote [in your pre-forum response] that you’d like to see more enforcement of our bylaws. Can you expand on that statement?

A: “When I volunteered four years ago [for the Planning Board], I was very excited about learning something new and contributing to our community. I found that we rigorously try to protect the bylaws put together at Town Meetings, yet we don’t have any method of enforcing what we do,” aside from the limited resources of the police and the building inspector, she said. “I think we need to open a town discussion on how we enforce the bylaws.”

Q: What is your vision for Lincoln Center and what is the role of Planning Board in that?

DeLisi noted that there had been a report on South Lincoln as well as an advisory committee and a consultant, “and we kept on thinking and talking and there was no action.” As a member of the search committee to hire a new town planner last year, “my main drive was looking at their personalities and whether this was someone who had the internal drive to do things that a planner should do. And one thing a planner should do is revitalize the town center… taking the initiative and running with it. That’s exactly what [Jennifer Burney] did. She created a vision for how we go about this” by prompting formation of the Economic Development Advisory Committee [EDAC] and the South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee [SLPIC].

Another important issue is recreational marijuana, which is now legal in Massachusetts, “but we as a town haven’t come up with how we’re going to handle it. This is a billion-dollar business, as we’ve seen in Colorado. We have to decide what we want. Will there be stores in South Lincoln selling it? Will there be a lot of people growing it? Marijuana used in adolescents clearly affects the brain in a bad way,” said DeLisi, who is a psychiatrist. “I don’t want to see that be more accessible to young people in our community” who could buy cookies and candy containing marijuana in Lincoln Center.

Ruth Ann Hendrickson

Running unopposed for Water Commission (three years)

Hendrickson displayed a graph showing water levels in Flint’s Pond over the past few years. In summer 2016, largely due to lawn watering during the drought, “we used more water than we ever have in the history of the town. Even though we’ve had a normal amount of rain this winter, we’re starting very, very low. It’s very serious and I’m asking you not to water your lawns.” She asked anyone to come to her with ideas about “how to approach wealthy people who water their lawns no matter what… they have people for that and don’t care what it costs.”

Asked what water conservation actions Lincolnites could take, she said, “Not water your lawn. Most lawns will revive when the rains come again.” She also recommended using drip irrigation and re-landscaping with ground cover and bushes, and if grass is used, using a long-root, drought-resistant variety in small areas. Indoors, toilets and the washer use about half the home’s water, and the town provides rebates for purchasing water-efficient appliances.

Lincoln should consider the recent suggestion of a town communications subcommittee, because “I don’t think we’re using the modern communications techniques of the younger generation. Asking someone to come to a meeting just isn’t working any more… We need to reach out to find other new ways to make not only information available, but also discussions, Snapchat or whatever they’re using,” she said.

Rakesh Karmacharya

Running for Housing Commission (one year)

Karmacharya is interested in exploring “nontraditional housing options” such as homeowners renting out rooms in exchange for helping around the house, shopping and other errands, etc. This would open low-cost housing opportunities in Lincoln for younger people (including, for example, teachers at LEAP) while also helping elderly residents remain in their homes for as long as possible.

“There are a lot of elderly who live alone, as well as families with young kids, but there’s not as much interaction [as there could be] between those two vibrant groups… [we might be able to] create surrogate grandparents and surrogate grandchildren” for seniors whose extended family live far away. “I see housing as part of the bigger fabric of community,” he said.

Stanley Solomon

Running against John MacLachlan for Bemis trustee (three years)

“The people I think of that would be good speakers are people from the STEM world and people from outdoors,” said Stanley, 85. “And I promise I will not be running around in Lincoln politics for the next 15 years.”

Q: Do you see a role for trustees to collaborate wth other town commissions?

“The Bemis Trust should confine its activities to providing what the trust was established for. I think the rest of Lincoln has enough committees and people to take care of things they’re there for. I don’t see see this kind of interdisciplinary thing as being beneficial.”

John MacLachlan

Running against Stanley Solomon for Bemis trustee (three years)

“To be honest, after the last [national] election, I felt obligated to get more engaged with the community,” MacLachlan said when asked what inspired him to run for town office after living in Lincoln for only three years. “I’ve been to a number of events where there were mainly elderly people and few young families, or the reverse. It would be nice to have more young families there, with [Bemis Lecture Series] topics that topics that would engage both the elderly and the young.”

MacLachlin has also been asked by the Parks and Recreation Commission to fill an appointed seat, and he said that he could hold both posts, but “would be happy to allow Stanley to take that position” as a Bemis trustee.

Fred Mansfield

Running unopposed for reelection to the Board of Health (three years)

Mansfield was asked about how the town could balance its emphasis on protecting the environment with the need to protect residents’ health in the face of threats from Lyme disease and other tick-borne and mosquito-borne illnesses, and what (if anything) the Board of Health can do to mitigate those threats.

State environmental officials set traps for mosquitoes and monitor what diseases they’re carrying, which can also include West Nile virus and (perhaps eventually) Zika, Mansfield said. However, “we don’t have much in the way of mosquito control because [homes in Lincoln] are so dispersed.” There are a few catch basins in which the town could put larvicide, and if there was a major outbreak of mosquito-borne illness, helicopters could do aerial spraying of insecticide, he said.

As for ticks, Mansfield recommended that residents pull their socks up over their pant legs, put on insect repellant containing permethrin on their socks, and check themselves carefully for ticks. “We have no way of controlling the deer or the mice that are part of the [Lyme disease] cycle, and we won’t really have a solution other than prevention,” he said. According to Mansfield, his fellow Board of Health member Steven Kanner, an internist, has advised that anyone who finds a tick on his or her body, even without an obvious bite or bull’s-eye lesion, to “take two doxycycline pills and forget about it, trying to prevent things rather than treat them.”

The candidate was also asked about the leaf blower issue. In 2015, the Board of Health went on record as saying that airborne particles and noise from gas-powered leaf blowers are a health hazard, but later distanced itself from proposed restrictions on use of the machines by homeowners not in the South Lincoln commercial area.

“Our thought was that the Board of Health doesn’t have an enforcement arm, and Lincoln Police were not interested in taking that on,” he said. “The question is how would they do that. Do they go around with noise meters?” The board instead supports “neighborly agreements” to limit the times of year that gas-powered leaf blowers and string trimmers could be used. If this didn’t work, “we’ll probably go in front of Town Meeting and it will probably be voted down because people don’t want to pay contractors to rake by hand, and electric leaf blowers are not as powerful,” he said.

Patty Mostue

Running unopposed for reelection to the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee (three years); former Lincoln School Committee member

“What I like about Lincoln is what I also like about the high school—the great sense of community,” Mostue said. Recent innovations at L-S include the We Are Warriors program aimed at students who may not be college-bound that helps them feel “they belong in the high school no matter what their path to higher education or work.”

“There are new people moving into Lincoln who don’t always take part in Town Meeting… I think it would be a danger to lose the sense of community that has to be guarded and nurtured all the time,” Mostue said when asked what she would like to see changed about Lincoln.

Rick Rundell

Running unopposed for reelection to the Planning Board (three years)

Q: In your written response, you said you’d like to see broader civic engagement. Is there a way the Planning Board can help with that?

Rundell noted that there are now greater opportunities for participating in the planning and economic development process with the creation of the EDAC and the SLPIC. The EDAC will be help in promote the economic health of the town by bringing together people in the business and nonprofit communities, including those who are not Lincoln residents but have an interest in seeing those businesses succeed.

Laura Sander

Running unopposed for the Board of Assessors (three years); current member of the Finance Committee

As a Finance Committee member, Sander said she has “learned a lot about Lincoln finances—in particular, property taxes, which account for about 76 percent of our revenue. The oversight of that resource is really critical to how we function. We really need to be aware of our taxing capacity and how we can best utilize that. This is outside the purview of the Board of Assessors, but as a town, as we think about more commercial development or more affordable housing, we have to think about the impacts and what that means to us as taxpayers.”

Q: You wrote, “I would like to ensure that the oasis that we work hard to maintain is not an enclave that is separate from the rest of the world and its concerns.” Can you give a couple of examples of how to work harder to promote this vision?

A: “I get really concerned about the fact that we can pay a lot of lip service” to things like METCO and affordable housing, “but we need to engage with each other,” Sander said. “I don’t have specific solutions for how to do that… but if we’re not engaging somehow, we’re not getting enough out of that. We have to think about how do we create forums that allow people to really interact.”

Allen Vander Meulen

Running against Jennifer Glass for one-year vacancy on the Board of Selectman; current member of Housing Commission and SLPIC

Q: Can you expand on your definition of “the Lincoln way” and how it can be improved upon?

A: “To me, the Lincoln way means that we’re all part of the community. There’s not some elite that’s driving us; everyone’s voice is important… even if you disagree with someone, [making sure] their voice is heard and taken seriously, making sure that one group doesn’t get to trump the other or create a lot of division that doesn’t need to be there,” Vander Meulen said. In his previous career as an IT manager he said he often dealt with situations where “everyone was at each other’s throat or had no idea how to get where they needed to go,” and his skill was “building consensus and a sense of camaraderie and mutual direction.”

“As a minister and a volunteer, your focus is on building the community, facilitating dialogue, and making sure the people who aren’t involved are. One thing you can’t do is just sit back and wait for people to come to you. I know too many churches that died thinking a fresh coat of paint on the front door and new carpeting would solve their problems.”

Of his opponent Glass, Vander Meulen said, “I’ve been very impressed with her. No matter who wins this election, you’ll see both of us around for a very, very long time.”

“That’s either a promise or a threat,” Glass said to laughter.

Officials outline needs and implications of school funding vote

March 9, 2017

School and town officials made their case for voting to move ahead with a town-funded school project at a multi-board meeting and public forum on March 8.

School Committee chair Jennifer Glass urged residents at Town Meeting on March 25 to vote yes on Article 33, which would allow the town to spend $750,000 on a feasibility study. That money was previously allocated in 2014 with the stipulation that the study would be for a project involving the Massachusetts State Building Authority (MSBA); a “yes” vote would remove that condition. The MSBA has turned down several grant applications from Lincoln due to competition from other schools that are in much worse shape, either structurally or due to severe overcrowding, she explained.

If Article 33 is not approved, residents will be asked to vote on Article 34, which authorizes the town to apply once again for MSBA funding. However, the School Committee and other boards have recommended that voters approve #33 and pass over #34. Theoretically the town could do its own feasibility study while also reapplying to the MSBA, but this runs the risk of wasting the town’s time, effort and money, since the MSBA (even if it granted funding) would require yet another new feasibility study as well as an MSBA-approved architect and owner’s project manager.

“Obviously it’s hard to think about turning away the possibility of millions of dollars,” Glass acknowledged. But the unlikelihood of actually getting that money unless things get much worse—along with other factors like the greater flexibility of a town-only project (especially in conjunction with planning for a community center, which was not permitted in an MSBA-funded school project)—makes this the best way to go, she said.

The new Hanscom Middle School’s layout, with many multipurpose spaces of various sizes, shows how a building’s design can have educational benefits, officials said. “We are seeing amazing things happening in terms of the way faculty are collaborating on an integrated curriculum and students are collaborating with each other,” said Superintendent Becky McFall.

Even without factoring educational enhancements into a new or renovated building, a project costing at least $30 million is urgently needed just to upgrade worn roofs, boilers and plumbing, HVAC systems and energy-inefficient single-pane windows, Glass said. The school also lacks sprinklers, has cramped kitchens and uncontrolled entrances, and is using converted closets for special services, she added.

If everything goes without a hitch, the earliest that construction could begin is late summer or fall 2019, with completion taking at least two years depending on the scope of the project, Glass said.

Future votes

After this month’s Town Meeting, there will be two more town-wide votes: one to choose a project concept and budget range (probably at Town Meeting a year from now), and another vote to bond the project in fall 2018 after final plans are developed.

“No solution gets chosen without a town vote—this is full-on town participation,” Glass said.

The second vote to choose a design concept was not undertaken in 2012. “We know that that is a really important step for the town to make,” she said, noting that the school campus “has a certain feel and is the heart of the community in many ways.”

Some of the data from the previous school studies can be used again, including data on the current facilities conditions, the educational program needs, possible building footprints and the optimal orientation of the building, the number of classrooms needed, etc. Still to be determined is the exact building layout and room configurations, site planning on roads, parking and pathways (especially as they may also affect a possible community center on the Hartwell side of the campus), and choosing major systems and construction materials, Glass said.

Tax implications

Finance Committee chair Peyton Marshall outlined Lincoln’s property tax situation now (generally favorable compared to eight peer towns) and how it would change after a major bond issue. He showed how much tax bills would go up depending on how much money the town borrowed and the interest rate (either 4% or 5%). The numbers assume that the town will use its debt stabilization fund to smooth the impact.

Bottom line: there would be a median annual tax increase of $275 to $300 for every $10 million that the town borrowed. The median tax bill in fiscal 2018 is $13,613.

Letter to the editor: time to move forward with a school project

March 6, 2017

(Editor’s note: There will be a multi-board meeting and forum on Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym. This is the second such meeting in recent weeks about the school project; click here for coverage of the first multiboard meeting on January 30.)

To the editor:

Last April, Lincoln again applied for state funding for a school building project from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). In December, the town learned that we were not invited into the 2016 funding pipeline. After careful consideration, we, the members of the Lincoln School Committee (LSC), have voted unanimously to recommend that the town move forward independently and begin planning a Lincoln-funded school building project. This is an opinion that we have shared openly with other boards and that we introduced to the public at the January 30 multi-board meeting. It has since been endorsed by multiple town boards and committees.

The purpose of the January 30 meeting was to launch a community process that we hope will bring the town to consensus on a Lincoln School building project. The first decision will be made at the March 25th Annual Town Meeting. The LSC is bringing forth for the town’s consideration two warrant articles that represent two different pathways:

Article 33: Using the money we already set aside in 2015, will the Town permit the School Committee to begin planning a Lincoln-funded project? OR
Article 34: Should the Town continue to re-apply to the MSBA?

The LSC views these articles as an either/or choice representing two distinct pathways and timetables. The School Committee recommends voting “yes” on Article 33 and passing over Article 34.

Article 33

As stewards of the school, we believe the time has come to act independently for the following reasons:

The Lincoln School’s building systems are at increasing risk of failure, and the fiscally responsible approach is to address the deficiencies with a thoughtfully planned single project.
We are committed to creating a learning environment that supports the town’s educational vision.
There has been considerable community engagement over the past five years, and a growing consensus that a school project is one of the town’s top priorities.

Certain systems in the school, such as the roof and boilers, are on borrowed time. With immediate action, the earliest completion date for a renovation project is late 2021. Waiting to act lengthens the timeline and increases the risk of a costly infrastructure failure that would force us to reactively spend millions of dollars.

Since 2002 when the Capital Planning Committee first recommended a comprehensive approach to addressing the school’s capital needs, the town has conducted five studies of the facility. Each study has confirmed the idea that it is fiscally prudent to thoughtfully plan a project that holistically addresses the school’s infrastructure needs.

For the past several years, because we sought to maximize the impact of the town’s investment, the LSC asked for town support to seek MSBA funding. Yet, since we applied last April, we have learned more about the current competitiveness of the MSBA process. The MSBA uses weighted criteria to evaluate proposals, including:

Is the building structurally sound?
Is there severe overcrowding?
Is there a threatened loss of accreditation?
Does the district foresee future overcrowding?
Are the major systems obsolete?
Will there be short-term enrollment growth?
Are the educational spaces outdated?

The Lincoln School, like many around the Commonwealth, falls firmly into categories #5 and #7. Many districts around us, however, are also facing severe overcrowding, and there are some facilities around the Commonwealth that are considered unusable. The MSBA is using its limited resources to fund projects around the state that fall squarely within categories #1 and/or #2. We believe that with the current focus on these top two criteria, we are unlikely to receive state support in the foreseeable future, and that given the condition of the building, the responsible financial choice is to move ahead on our own.

Supporting high-quality public education is one of Lincoln’s core values. This goes beyond academic rigor, encompassing a vision of education that is innovative, engaging and inspiring. To realize that vision, we know we need highly effective educators in an environment that supports teaching and learning. Lincoln consistently supports the educational program, and now it is time to invest in our infrastructure. Our goal is a school facility that fosters collaboration and communication, is flexible and sustainable enough to meet educational needs for decades to come, and is safe and accessible to, and supportive of, all our learners.

Finally, for the past five years the LSC has worked with the citizens of Lincoln to cultivate a shared vision of education, and an understanding of the Lincoln School building’s deficiencies. Among the several hundred people who have engaged in this process, the public has indicated consensus on several points:

Maximizing educational benefits is the community’s first priority when evaluating a potential project.
A minimum investment of $30 million (2014 estimate) is required to achieve a responsible repair project that addresses basic infrastructure and meets current safety, structural and accessibility codes.
In order to achieve an education-focused transformation of the building, a significantly greater investment will be required. According to several studies, the potential cost is $40-$65 million.
This cost range is based on the 2014 Dore & Whittier estimates commissioned by the School Building Advisory Committee II (SBAC II); the total cost of the project proposed in 2012 was $50 million.
When asked at the 2014 State of the Town Meeting, those present demonstrated strong support for a transformative project, even if we need to pay for it on our own.
Many residents are also interested in building a community center on the Lincoln School campus and favor a parallel planning process.
A school project will be a major community investment. It is important to build on the community’s demonstrated engagement in planning these projects.

Approving Article 33 is the first of three votes the town would take to plan and achieve a revitalization of the Lincoln School. Community input has been and will continue to be crucial in planning for the choices the Town will make at each of these stages. The following “feasibility study” process is based on a standard project management model:

After a “yes” vote on Article 33, the School Committee appoints a School Building Committee to choose an architect, hire an owner’s project manager, and develop a series of project concepts and budget estimates from which the town will choose.
The town votes to choose a project concept and estimated budget range. This determines key components of the project such as the number and types of spaces needed, and the footprint of the building.
— Preliminary design phase: After the town chooses a concept, the architect and Building Committee will do preliminary site planning and choose major systems and materials such as heating/ventilation, roofing, exterior materials, windows, insulation, lighting, and plumbing.
— Two independent cost estimates are commissioned and reconciled.
The town votes to bond the project, beginning the final phase:
— Final design development: The Building Committee and architect choose interior finishes, finalize site plans, and create construction drawings.
—The construction contract is put out to bid, is awarded, and the project begins.

Article 34

Article 34 asks whether the town should re-apply for funding from the MSBA. The LSC has advocated for this pathway over the past couple of years, but now believes that our near-term acceptance into the funding pipeline is highly unlikely given both the level of need around the state, and the MSBA’s available resources. As outlined above, large infrastructure items such as the roof and the heating system are at an increased risk of failure, and even the most ambitious project schedule takes four years. The LSC recommends voting “yes” on Article 33 and passing over Article 34.

Why not vote “yes” on both articles?

One advantage of funding a project on our own is that we are not constrained by MSBA limitations on building and site use, thus facilitating parallel planning with a community center.
Potential waste of taxpayer money: If we spend money to develop a project on our own and then receive an invite from the MSBA, we would have to put that work aside and begin a new, state-approved process. This would mean appropriating more money, hiring a state-approved architect and owner’s project manager, and starting the work again. This also delays planning for a community center project.
Respect for the town’s human capital. During the most recent study of the Lincoln School, SBAC II meetings consumed over 110 hours of our educators’ and fellow citizens’ time. The LSC wants to ensure that we are using our human resources judiciously and productively.

Questions? Want more information? Please join us at the multi-board meeting and forum on March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass, chair (on behalf of the Lincoln School Committee)

Glass brings School Committee experience to bid for selectman

March 2, 2017

Jennifer Glass.

After nine years on the School Committee during a period when the town planned and then failed to advance a school building project, committee chair Jennifer Glass is hoping to apply what she’s learned to a new town government position: Board of Selectman member.

Glass is running against Allen Vander Meulen for the remaining year in the term of Selectman Renel Frederiksen, who is resigning from the board as of this month. Also on the ballot for selectman in the March 27 town election is Jonathan Dwyer. He is running unopposed for the open seat of Selectman Peter Braun, who is stepping down after two terms.

The Glass family—Jennifer her husband Andrew, an attorney, and their daughters Caroline and Emily, who are juniors in college and at Lincoln-Sudbury, respectively—have lived in Lincoln since 2006. She has a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies and a master’s in education, and taught kindergarten in Newton before from Brookline to Lincoln, where she has been a full-time parent and volunteer.

“I moved here and jumped in pretty quickly [into school matters], and I’ve enjoyed the fact that this is a town that welcomes people who want to do that. It’s easy to feel engaged, and it’s what has made our time here a lot of fun,” she said.

“What drew me to [running for selectman] was the confluence of events going on in the town right now,” said Glass, referring to a renewed school project push as well as a municipal solar installation at the landfill, economic development in South Lincoln, a possible community center and the Complete Streets initiative. “There are a lot of pieces that individual committees have talked about for a while but are all coming together in a big picture, which I find very interesting and exciting… I believe the experience I’ve had in meeting with other [town government] committees will help further the conversation about how we manage all of these different ideas and projects that seem to be coming together at the same time.”

School building saga

During the first school building process (which ended in defeat in late 2012 when less than two-thirds of voters approved a $49 million total expenditure at a Special Town Meeting), Glass had many dealings with other areas of town government including the selectmen, the Finance Commission, the Capital Planning Committee, the Council on Aging, and the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Reflecting on those events four years later, the failure to advance the project was “really due to a combination of factors,” she said. “There was some initial sticker shock—these are big numbers we’re talking about for the town. To support a project of that magnitude, you have to feel like you’re getting good value for the money you’re spending. Though we had a majority, not everyone was ready to say ‘yes, this was the right value for my dollars,’ whether it was because of the layout of campus, a purely financial decision, or a desire to better understand the connect between a building and the delivery of education,” she said.

Getting formal town consensus on a school and campus design before the funding vote “was really that missing step. We had public forums and neighborhood coffees and so forth, but somehow that step where we made a choice between keeping the building in the general shape it is now and approving the other scheme, somehow there just wasn’t enough vetting of that,” Glass said.

Asked what lessons she drew from the 2012 experience, Glass said, “I’ve certainly learned the importance of talking early and often, whether with other boards or the public. We tried to be very transparent at the time, but you can never stop trying to be transparent. You just have to be very clear and up front about what the decisions are.”

The reversal didn’t sour Glass on the town’s commitment to education—far from it. “Immediately after the [2012] vote, people came to me and said, ‘I couldn’t vote for this but I want to help. What can we do?’ That told me it was not that the town didn’t want to do something, but that we had to go back and figure out how to do a better job of communicating,” she said. “We knew we had to put in place a moment where, after developing a bunch of options, we would come back to the town to get a vote” on one of those design option before the actual funding vote.

Asked about how a community center might fit in with a school project, Glass said she was “very much in favor of those two processes going forward together.” Actual construction may have to be staggered, “but we just don’t know the answers yet. Both feel like good long-term solutions. What we’re trying to aim for is how do we get the most out of both projects.”

Likewise, planning for South Lincoln should move forward even though the town doesn’t yet know the final plan, Glass said. “Depending on what budgetary implications there are, we have to see if the town has the bandwidth, but the conversations have to keep going, even if means there isn’t immediate action on development.” The commercial district can benefit fairly soon from relatively low-cost measures such as marketing and signage, she added.

A young board

Regardless of who is elected to the Board of Selectmen this month, the group will be short on experience, with two new members and a third (James Craig) who has been serving for only a year. “It means that there would be a steep learning curve, clearly. But there’s a deep institutional knowledge in Town Hall,” Glass said. “And there are many people in town who have served in this role before who I’ve always found to be very wiling to give their input and advice and fill in on the historical info that I may not have at my fingertips.

“While I certainly have a lot to learn, I understand how town government works and how the meeting law works and how all of these pieces fit together. I don’t see it as a problem because I know there’s this kind of support network out there” of professionals and volunteers,” she said.

Glass feels that the past nine years have honed her political skills a well as procedural knowledge. “I think I’ve shown that I have a fair amount of perseverance and willingness to continue difficult conversations and find common ground. I think I’m willing to listen and keep talking and try to find solutions that bring people together,” she said.

Students sponsor three Town Meeting citizens’ petitions

February 28, 2017

L-S students Lucy Bergeron (left) and Anjuli Das with a single day’s worth of discarded water bottles at the high school.

This year, the eighth-graders’ group assisted by Town Clerk Susan Brooks and Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden is hoping to have Lincoln voters approve funds for two portable, 15-foot aluminum benches with backrests and shelves for use by sports teams who play on the fields next to Codman Pool. The benches would cost $800 to $1,200 apiece, according to Maria Hamandi, one of the students.

“A lot of times, [athletes’] personal belongings get in the dirt, including the mouth guards, which we find pretty unsanitary,” Hamandi said. The bench’s shelves will keep phones and other items off the ground, which will be especially helpful during rain (“they don’t only play when it’s beautiful weather outside,” she noted).

Other students involved in the 2017 citizens’ petition effort are Max Borden, Maya David, Achla Gandhi, Sophie Herant, Rhea Karty, Sarah Lammert and Dasha Trosteanetchi.

The Environmental Club at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High school is proposing two warrant articles in both Lincoln and Sudbury (though Sudbury’s Annual Town Meeting is not until May 1). One measure seeks to ban single-use plastic check-out bags at supermarkets and other retail stores. Thin-film plastic bags without handles that are used for meat, produce, newspapers, dry cleaning, etc. would not be affected.

The other measure would ban the retail sale of plastic single-use water bottles in town. Specifically targeted are polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles of 1 liter (34 ounces) or less containing noncarbonated, unflavored drinking water. Bottles could still be given away, however. The ban, if approved, can also be lifted if there is ever an emergency affecting the availability and/or quality of drinking water to residents.

L-S junior Lucy Bergeron of Lincoln wrote the bottle article based on one that was passed in Concord in 2012. “We spoke to people there and they say it’s going pretty well,” she said.

Several other cities and towns including Cambridge have banned supermarket check-out bags. In that city, whose law went into effect a year ago, customers must bring their own reusable bags for their groceries or purchase paper bags for 10 cents apiece. The Lincoln proposal says stores may charge a fee to recoup the cost of providing paper bags (or selling reusable bags) but does not specify a price.

In time-honored Lincoln political tradition, Bergeron surveyed residents at the transfer station about how inconvenient it would be to stop using plastic water bottles and how important the environment was to them.

“I got pretty positive feedback,” she said. “Most people said [disposable] water bottles are not that important to them; they use them mostly if they’re traveling or don’t have a better alternative.”

Bergeron and Lincoln freshman Anjuli Das noted that fossil fuels are used to manufacture and transport plastic bottles. Also, “some people seem to think that bottled water is better, but often it’s just tap water,” Bergeron said.

Last year, the Environmental Club collected the plastic water bottles discarded in a single day at the high school and used them to build a tower showing how much plastic they used (the tower still stands in one of the school lobbies).

Those in favor of banning single-use plastic grocery bags note that they pose significant environmental hazards because they do not readily biodegrade and can harm animals and fish that ingest them. Discarded bags are also harder to recycle than other products (the Lincoln transfer station does not accept them, for example), and they can wind up as unsightly litter and clog storm drains.

Acting on last year’s eighth-grade citizens’ petition, residents approved the purchase of a hydration stations for the Lincoln School’s Reed Gym. Students can use them to refill their reusable plastic water bottles with filtered tap water as well as get a quick drink, as with traditional water fountains.

Letter to the editor: Mostue running for fourth term on L-S School Committee

February 28, 2017

To the editor:

I am declaring my candidacy as an incumbent for the Lincoln-Sudbury (L-S) School Committee. I have enjoyed serving for nine years on the committee and would be honored and delighted to continue for a fourth term.

I view among the priorities of the L-S School Committee the continued maintenance of high standards of learning, fine teaching and reasonable class sizes for which L-S is known. We must also continue ongoing collaboration with our K-8 feeder schools to strengthen curriculum coordination; establish appropriate models for teacher assignments and teacher loads; and implementation of pertinent mandates from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The committee will continue to balance educational priorities with the available fiscal resources.

Professionally, until recently I was an administrator for the Worcester Public Schools as director of testing and assessment for 15 years. In that position, I oversaw testing programs for both regular and special education students and conducted all data analyses. I have been a member of the faculty at Framingham State University, where I most recently taught a graduate course on research and statistics. In the past, I worked as a statistician in both management and marketing consulting firms.

It has been such a pleasure working with the other five committee members in an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, representing the citizens of both Lincoln and Sudbury, as well as students in the METCO program. I would appreciate your support of my candidacy and am available evenings at 781-259-4347 to answer any questions or discuss any issues you may have. I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Patricia Mostue
3 Lexington Road

GearTicks qualify for state championship

February 23, 2017

Lincoln GearTicks Jack Hutchinson, Dante Muzila and Calvin Terpstra operate the team’s robot.

The Lincoln GearTicks FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics team had another successful tournament earlier this month, winning all their events plus an additional award at the “Twister on Lowder Street” qualifier in Dedham.

FTC is an annual challenge in which teams of students in grades 7-12 build and program small robots to play a game that changes each season. The game is played in a 12-by-12-foot playing field with each match consisting of four randomly partnered teams on two alliances. This year’s challenge involves tasks such as shooting small balls into two large hoops in the center of the field, pressing buttons on beacons to capture them for one’s alliance, and lifting and capping the center hoops with yoga balls—quite a challenge for a robot that has to fit in an 18-inch cube at the start of the match.

After winning all five of their qualification matches, they proceeded to the alliance selection, in which the top four ranked teams choose two additional teams to join their alliance. The GearTicks selected Loose Screws Robotics and Hailstorm, with whom they continued through the semi finals and into the finals before becoming the winning alliance.

“Our alliance partners were really great and had awesome robots,” Driver Calvin Terpstra. Teammate Anna Sander added, “It was fun to see Loose Screws again, as they competed with us last year from our league all the way through the World Championship.”

In addition to being the captain of the winning alliance, the GearTicks also received the Think Award, which is given to the team whose engineering notebook best reflects the team’s engineering design process journey.

Next stop: the state championship on March 4 at Natick High School. The event is free and open to the public. The team is also planning to demonstrate their robot outside Lincoln’s Town Meeting on March 25. You can find out more about the GearTicks at gearticks.com.

The winning alliance: The GearTicks, Loose Screws Robotics and Hailstorm (click to enlarge).

News acorns

February 21, 2017

Con Com seeks member

The Conservation Commission is looking for a new commissioner to complete the term of a member who has moved out of town. The group, which meets every third week on Wednesdays from 7-10:30 p.m., approves or denies permits under the guidelines of the state wetlands law and town bylaw. The Con Com also maintains 80 miles of trails in town and stewards 200 acres of agricultural land. Commissioners are expected to participate on related town boards or committees as representatives from Con Com.

Anyone interested in this or other town volunteer opportunities should visit this Volunteer web page, download the application and send it to Peggy Elder in the Board of Selectman’s office. Appointments are made by the board. For more information, please contact Tom Gumbart in the Conservation Department office (781-259-2612) or any commissioner.

Library activities for kids this week

Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. — Luna Goes to Mars! is a play about 11-year-old Luna who is determined to build a rocket to go to Mars, with a little help from her pet hedgehog, Astro. A production of ArtsReach, from UNH. Recommended for ages 6 and up. Drop in.
Thursday, Feb. 23 from 4- 5 p.m. — Brixology! Kids will learn about different types of engineering and then team up to construct an engineering-themed project using LEGO bricks. Ages 6 and up. To register, call the library at 781-259-8465 ext. 4
Friday, Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m. — Movies and Muffins. Gentle science-themed films based on beloved children’s books. Ages 2 and up. Drop in.
Saturday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. — Meet author Joshua Funk, who will read from his picture book about the funniest food fight ever: Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast. Recommended for all ages. No registration necessary. Join us after the story time for mini pancakes and waffles.

Library to screen “Seven Beauties”

The Lincoln Public Library Film Society presents Seven Beauties directed by Lina Wertmuller (rated R. approx. 121 minutes, in Italian with English subtitles) on Thursday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. This 1976 film stars Giancarlo Giannini as a petty crook with seven unattractive sisters to support, and it features a picaresque, World War II-era journey through a prison asylum, army service and a Nazi concentration camp. Giannini became a 1970s international icon partially on the basis of this work.

Tour the new Hanscom Middle School

Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Becky McFall and Principal Erich Ledebuhr will lead tours of the new Hanscom Middle School school on Wednesday, March 8 and Monday, March 13, both from 9-11 a.m. The 85,000-square-foot building serves 300 students in grades 4-8 and cost $34 million, funded entirely by the Department of Defense. The school’s design is based on grade-level “neighborhoods” where individual classrooms are clustered around common areas and small break-out spaces. This creates a flexible environment that fosters collaboration, accommodates project work, and provides opportunities for small, class-sized or grade-level groups. The music room, art room, library, full kitchen and gymnasium all have direct access to a central commons that features a stage and serves multiple functions: cafeteria space during lunch, performance center for music and drama, and a place to practice presentation skills for individuals and groups of students.

Tour participants must sign up in advance in order to be granted access to Hanscom Air Force Base. Please contact Mary Gately at gatelym@lincnet.org or at 781-274-7720. The signup deadlines are Marchy 3 for the March 8 tours, and March 8 for the March 13 tour.

Spelling bee registration coming up

Registration for the Lincoln School Foundation’s 10th Annual Spelling Bee will begin on February 27 and run through March 10. The bee will take place on Sunday, April 2 in the Brooks Auditorium from 1-6:30 p.m. This fun, multi-community event is open to all students in grades 3-6 from Smith, Brooks, the Hansom Schools, and Lincoln residents who attend private school or are home-schooled. Children within the same grade will register as a two- or three-person team and compete against other grade-level teams. For more information, see the LSF website or email Gabby Berberian at bee@lincolnschoolfoundation.org.

Fireside Chats on civic engagement, American opportunity

Sharon Antia will lead two Fireside Chats in Bemis Hall on “What Does Civic Engagement Mean to You?” on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 11:30 a.m., and “Is America Still a Land of Opportunity?” on Wednesday, March 22. Both events run from 10-11:30 a.m.

America prides itself on being a place where anyone can succeed, but is this still true? Do some people grow up receiving a better education which leads to better jobs, health and other benefits? How much of an advantage does coming from a wealthier family convey? What do the answers to these questions mean for our society? Come join others in a lively but respectful discussion of this topic facilitated by Sharon Antia using questions and answers on March 22. The purpose of the Fireside Chats is not to convince others of your opinion, but rather to share information and ideas so as to create dialogue and greater understanding.

Author talk on fly-fishing and friendship

The Lincoln Public Library presents a book talk and signing on The Confluence: Fly-fishing & Friendship in the Dartmouth College Grant with former Lincoln resident Phil Odence on Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m. In a collection of intertwined essays, seven authors who head north each June to a remote cabin reveal how their friendships have grown deeper as their lives flow into middle age, with laughs, tears and insight into the intersection between humanity and the natural world. The reader comes along to experience New England wilderness wonders, stinky outhouses, original watercolors, floods, a wine tasting, a dramatic search and rescue… and fly-fishing for native brook trout. Odence and his family, who are now Waltham residents, lived in Lincoln for more than a decade. He was a long time coach and president of Lincoln Youth Soccer. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Minuteman High School prepares for hearings and looks for artifacts

February 12, 2017

Jennifer Banister and Colin Stevenson of PAL sift soil form the archeological dig near Minuteman High School.

Public hearings with two town boards are scheduled for the new Minuteman High School project starting this week. Meanwhile, a recent archeological dig at the site of the new building in Lincoln did not turn up any historically significant artifacts.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing for site plan review on Tuesday, Feb. 28 (time TBA). The board will also conduct a preliminary site plan review on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. The Conservation Commission will hold its first public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. All meetings are in the Town Office Building.

Because Minuteman High School is an educational institution, it is largely exempt from local zoning rules for the building itself. However, the two boards will have a say on matters such as parking, landscaping, visual screening and wetlands.

Minuteman documents on file for the Planning Board can be found here, and those for the Conservation Commission are here. Given the size and complexity of the project, the town plans to hire a consultant to assist with the reviews.

Pending permitting by the town, the Minuteman district hopes to break ground this spring and open the new school to students in the fall of 2019.

Archeological dig

Minuteman commissioned a four-member crew from the Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL) of Pawtucket, R.I., to survey the future construction site for artifacts, but researchers came up empty, finding just one shotgun shell and one piece of broken glass, both of recent vintage.

The survey was undertaken because the site’s proximity to Battle Road, wetlands and water sources meant it might contain items from pre-European Native Americans or colonial-era residents. The work was not required by a government agency but was ordered by Minuteman Superintendent Edward Bouquillon to ease any concerns about the site’s potential historical significance and to ease his own mind about building a school there.

“This area is rich in Revolutionary War history. I had no idea what we might find out there, but I’m glad we did this. It was the right thing to do,” he said. The archeological survey cost the district $15,000, a small fraction of the school project’s $144.9 million total cost.

The PAL team spent more than 150 hours digging 90 cube-shaped shovel test pits, each about feet on a side, and then used a screen to sift the soil for items for interest.

“No artifacts were identified as part of the survey, which is a little surprising, but I think it has a lot to do with the shallow ledge that covers most of the area,” said senior archeologist Holly Herbster. “Our testing coverage was thorough and we targeted areas that were most likely for pre-contact as well as historic sites, so it appears this area just wasn’t utilized as neighboring areas were.”

Even though no artifacts were found, the dig offered an educational benefit for Minuteman students. Social studies teacher Tracey Sierra brought her sophomore classes out to the site to see the direct connection between science and history, and students they also learned about career pathways they didn’t know existed.

Sometimes PAL has the chance to explore a significant archeological find. The firm recently helped document the discovery of a 19th-century schooner buried deep in the mudflats in the Seaport district in South Boston. The shipwreck was found during excavation on a construction project.