schools

Bouquillon looking forward to new chapter for Minuteman

September 21, 2016

A grateful and relieved Edward Bouquillon, superintendent/director of Minuteman High School, looked ahead Wednesday morning to something he and others have been working toward for eight years: breaking ground on a new school building.

The final vote tally in Tuesday’s 16-town special election was 12,158–5,320 (69%–30%) in favor of funding the $145 million project. Four towns said no: Carlisle (46%–53%), Sudbury (45%–55%), Wayland (48%–52%) and Belmont (28%–72%). However, Belmont was the only one of those four that will still be a member of the Minuteman school district after the new school is finished, so it will be on the hook for a share of the construction costs. Boxborough, Carlisle, Lincoln, Sudbury, Wayland and Weston voted earlier this year to withdraw from the district as of July 2017. Belmont’s earlier “no” vote at Town Meeting last spring (which happened after the deadline for expedited withdrawal from the district had passed) was what led to this week’s 16-town vote.

“The fact that [Belmont is] such an outlier in this whole process should probably send some sort of signal to Belmont residents and perhaps their elected officials,” Bouquillon said. “Whether they’re just not getting it or choosing not to, I don’t know, but I’m more concerned with the kids.”

Bouquillon thanked Lincoln residents on Wednesday for their approval margin of 88%–12%. Last year, Lincoln officials lobbied other district towns for an intermunicipal agreement that would have provided some form of compensation for the fact that the new school building will be located within Lincoln, but the idea never gained traction during negotiations over the revised Minuteman regional agreement.

Workers should be able to start construction in spring 2017 on a 20-month building project resulting in occupancy in time for the start of the 2020-21 school year, Bouquillon said. That would complete a project that began almost exactly eight years ago, when he filled out a statement of interest for funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

“It’s the longest-running feasibility study in the history of the MSBA,” he said, adding that the agency itself had been established only a year before Minuteman submitted its statement of interest.

The future of the current building site

Along with construction details, Bouquillon and others must also now turn their attention to the question of what to do with the old building it’s replacing and the Lexington acreage it sits on.

“I cannot think that all I’m doing here is building a new high school and moving on,” he said. “This campus is perfectly positioned to become an institution of learning for K-through-life that continues to support workforce development as well as the economic vitality of the region.”

The school district owns the 66 acres of land and plans to explore educational and public-private partnerships with ideas that will be in keeping with the site’s educational mission. Bouquillon said he has already had informal conversations with organizations including post-secondary educational institutions, as well as public and private groups involved in education, recreation (the old building’s swimming pool might be replaced in some fashion, for example), engineering and life sciences. Such companies could offer on-campus work co-op programs for Minuteman students, he noted.

The Minuteman School Committee will eventually issue a request for letters of interest to potential partners with proposed new uses for the site and then develop an overall vision for the campus before inviting developers into the process, Bouquillon said.

Right now, Bouquillon is simply thankful that the long process is of getting the new building funded is over. “Now I can focus on my kids, teachers and building,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been freed to be an educator.”

Minuteman vote on Tuesday

September 18, 2016

A special election to vote on funding for a new Minuteman High School will take place in Lincoln and the other 15 towns in the Minuteman High School district on Tuesday, Sept. 20. Polls will be open in the Smith School from noon to 8 p.m. and voting will be conducted alphabetically by last name using a single ballot box.

The election is the culmination of a long process to get approval from district towns for a $145 million school building on Lincoln land adjacent to the current building, which is just over the town line in Lexington. A majority of the votes cast throughout the entire district will determine the outcome.

Lincoln is one of six towns that opted to withdraw from the Minuteman district, but that withdrawal does not become effective until July 2017. However, the withdrawal also means that Lincoln will not be responsible for a share of the capital costs for the building as current members towns are. Thus, there are no direct financial consequences for Lincoln.

If the district-wide vote fails, Minuteman will lose a promised $44 million state grant, and member towns will have to pay $100 million for repairs to the existing building. In November of 2012, the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) placed Minuteman’s accreditation on “warning” status due to the building’s condition.

State law allows regional vocational school districts to secure local bonding approval either through their local Town Meetings or by a district-wide referendum. Minuteman initially tried the Town Meeting route but was unable to secure approval from one member town. Belmont’s Town Meeting voted against bonding for the project on May 4.

Earlier articles:

Carroll School gets Wayland’s OK for Old Sudbury Rd. project

September 15, 2016

A map showing the location of the Carroll School property (click to enlarge).

A drawing showing where the athletic fields will be located.

The Wayland Planning Board has approved a plan for an expansion of Lincoln’s Carroll School on property adjacent to the Wayland/Lincoln town line.

The Carroll School purchased two adjoining parcels last spring for playing fields and educational facilities for two grades that are now housed at its Baker Bridge Road site in Lincoln. The project on 11 acres at 39 and 45 Waltham Rd. in Wayland (close to the town line where it becomes Old Sudbury Rd.) will convert the existing main building and pool house to serve up to 60 students supported by up to 40 staff and also create two playing fields. It hopes to have the playing fields ready by spring 2017 and accommodate students in fall 2017.

State law grants exemptions to certain zoning restrictions for agricultural, religious, and educational organizations. However, on September 6, the Wayland Planning Board approved a list of conditions aimed at minimizing the impact on the neighborhood. Among them:

All parking, pick-up and drop-off must be done on the property itself and not on town roads.
The athletic fields may not have lighting or a permanent electronic scoreboard.
Maintenance, landscaping work, deliveries and trash removal are prohibited on Sundays as well as before 7 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on Saturdays.
The lighting plan for the parking area in the front must ensure that there is no “light spillover” onto abutting properties.
The school will pay up to $5,ooo for a traffic study of existing conditions on Waltham Road and its major intersections in Both Lincoln and Wayland. If any traffic calming measures are proposed as a result of the study, the school will contribute up to an additional $5,000 toward the work.

Two letters to the editor: fund the new Minuteman school

September 13, 2016

To the editor:

On September 20, we will be asked to vote on funding a new Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School. You will recall that in the spring Lincoln voted to leave the Minuteman district, but as that change does not take affect until July of next year, we still have a voice in its governance.

As many of you are aware, this is a terribly complicated issue. As the Lincoln representative on the Minuteman School Committee, I have been pondering how to best present this issue to our voters here in Lincoln. Given that Lincoln chose to leave the district, is it best for us to sit this out and let what happens happen? Of course, we are still members of the district and as such, we have an obligation to see our membership through in a responsible manner. In addition, all but one of the remaining 10 districts have already voted in favor of funding the new school, so a “yes” vote will be supporting the will of the majority.

In order for the School Committee to authorize a new school building, all 16 towns in the district had to vote in favor of funding the project. All of the towns except Belmont approved the funding. The School Committee then exercised the option to implement a district-wide vote. If the collective majority of all 16 towns vote for funding the new school, the vote will stand. The state of the current building is such that the cost of refurbishing it is roughly equal to, or possibly greater than the cost of building a new school.

Let me be clear: we in Lincoln will not be responsible for funding the new school. This school will reside in Lincoln, and our children, if accepted, may opt to attend this school and the town will pay their tuition, but responsibility for paying to build the school will be on the 10 remaining towns, not Lincoln. On September 20, please vote yes to authorize funding of the new Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School.

Sincerely,

Sharon Antia
165 South Great Rd.

To the editor:

On September 20, the 16 communities that comprise the Minuteman High School district will be asked to vote on whether or not to fund a new high school. This is a complicated issue which will have NO financial impact on Lincoln tax-payers.

In the spring of this year, Lincoln voters chose to leave the Minuteman High School District, but that will not take effect until July 2017. Meanwhile, as current members of the school district we are asked to vote on this important issue. If you feel strongly, as we do, that all kids should have an equal opportunity for an education which fits their learning style, we urge you to take the time to vote for the new school building. Polls will be open from noon to 8.

Sincerely,

B-J Scheff and Joan Seville
1 Harvest 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.

Letter to the editor: vote for new Minuteman school building

September 12, 2016

(Editor’s note: For more information, see “Minuteman project going to district-wide vote” (Lincoln Squirrel, July 14, 2016).

To the editor:

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, voters in the Minuteman District will go to the polls in a special election to determine the fate of the Minuteman High School building project. I urge my fellow citizens living in the towns of Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Lincoln, Needham, Sudbury, Stow, Wayland and Weston to join me in casting a vote on that day between the hours of noon and 8 p.m. (If you won’t be in town on September 20, please contact your Town Clerk’s office about getting an absentee ballot.)

As superintendent of the Minuteman district, I have been involved in this project since its inception. Working with the Minuteman School Building Committee, Minuteman School Committee, member towns and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), I believe we have jointly designed a project that all of us can be proud of. For me, a new Minuteman High School:

Supports the continuation of high-quality career and vocational-technical education for our students that will improve the region’s local workforce and enhance our economic vitality
Provides a safe, modern facility specifically designed to provide 21st-century career and technical education along with relevant and rigorous academics
Addresses long-standing structural, mechanical and handicap accessibility issues that limit its educational effectiveness for all students
Safeguards the commitment of $44 million from the MSBA to keep down costs to local taxpayers
Enables Minuteman to charge out-of-district towns a capital fee to cover their portion of the costs of a new building
Retains Minuteman’s regional accreditation by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC)
Avoids “Plan B,” a scenario that would require member towns to spend more than $100 million on repairs to the existing building without any financial assistance from the MSBA
Demonstrates a strong and unified commitment that may compel new cities or towns to join the district to provide access for their students
Represents the most affordable option for local taxpayers

To learn more about the project or to view a list of polling places in your town, please visit the Minuteman website at www.minuteman.org.

Sincerely,

Edward A. Bouquillon (Director/Superintendent, Minuteman High School)
10 Mill St.

Minuteman project going to district-wide vote

July 14, 2016

Residents of all 16 towns in the Minuteman High School district will vote at a referendum on September 20 on whether to approve its new school building after officials from Minuteman and other towns determined that the Belmont Town Meeting could not be persuaded to change its “no” vote.

Minuteman needs approval from all 16 towns by November 30 to preserve a $44 million grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to help pay for the $145 million project. Every town except Belmont voted either to approve funding the project or to withdraw from the district to avoid incurring the capital costs levied on member towns. Belmont’s Town Meeting voted against bonding for the project on May 4, and Minuteman officials initially hoped to persuade the town to change its mind after securing an extension from the MSBA (the original deadline was May 27).

Lincoln voted in February to withdraw from the district, but the withdrawal does not take effect until July 2017, so it is still considered a member town for purposes of the September vote. Five other towns have also elected to withdraw.

State law allows the option of a district-wide referendum if the full complement of Town Meeting approvals for a regional school project isn’t achieved. There have been at least three such votes in regional school districts since 1995, all of which resulted in approvals, according to a Minuteman statement.

Asked why Lincoln should approve a project for a district it has decided to leave, Minuteman Superintendent-Director Edward Bouquillon noted that Lincoln students will still be able to enroll as out-of-district students. He also extolled the broader advantages of “having high-quality technical and vocational education” in the area.

“The value of vocational-technical education when it comes to economic development is clear,” he said. “It’s really an opportunity to express their support, and I would ask them to do that.”

The vote will be decided by a simple majority of the 16-town vote total. Polls will be open on Tuesday, Sept. 20 from noon to 8 p.m. The election will be paid for by the Minuteman school district.

Lincoln School does security audit; parents’ views sought

June 19, 2016

The school district has hired a consultant to evaluate the Lincoln School’s security and is asking parents and staff for their views on current and potential future security measures.

The Lincoln Public Schools’ Safety and Security Committee, which meets monthly, recommended the security audit, the first in Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall’s four-year tenure in Lincoln, although the graffiti incident outside the Brooks entrance in March was a contributing factor. “This is a good time for us to have an independent audit to give us some feedback beyond our own inspections,” she said.

David Cullen of Intelligence Security International was on campus last week looking at the buildings, interviewing staff members, and reviewing security procedures, including Internet access.

School doors are now locked during school hours between morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up, and all visitors must push a buzzer to be allowed inside. Security cameras outside the Smith and Brooks entrances allow secretaries to see visitors on a monitor and speak with them through an intercom to determine whether to allow entry, though the cameras do not make recordings.

An online poll, which is open until June 30, asks parents and staff for their opinions on locking school doors, surveillance cameras, and visitor check-in and monitoring.

The consultant’s report will be presented to the administration and School Committee in the fall, although McFall said the committee would probably go to executive session for its discussion. The inspection, which cost about $7,500, was funded as part of an earlier Town Meeting appropriation that paid for the current cameras and security buzzers.

LSF awards grants for school projects

June 16, 2016

The Lincoln School Foundation has awarded five grants totaling $11,662 for educational projects proposed by teachers at the Lincoln and Hanscom Schools:

Differentiation — Jason Peledge, Hanscom Middle School ($1,400). The curriculum grant will support the pilot of a stations-based model for 7th- and 8th-grade social studies students.
Library maker space — Alice Sajdera, Lincoln School ($800). The grant will pay for materials and equipment for a maker space where students and teachers have the opportunity to explore their own interests,
learn to use tools and materials and develop creative projects to foster independence, problem-solving,
collaboration and creativity.
Lucy Calkins conference — Joseph Columbo, Debbie Carpenito, Jennifer Mastrullo and Laura English (Lincoln School), $4,208. The grant will allow four teachers to attend the weeklong Lucy Calkins June Reading Institute in New York for educators who are committed to turning classrooms into richly literate reading workshops.
Hanscom Maker Space — Becca Fasciano, Hanscom Middle School ($3,854). The grant will fund materials needed for designing, building and creating in the electronics and textile
area of the new middle school. The school district and area businesses are also expected to contribute funds for the project.
Mindfulness and yoga — Brian Garside, Lincoln School ($1,400). Curriculum development and resources to encourage use of yoga, mindfulness and relaxation by students and faculty in grades K-2. Depending on space logistics, an area may be created that would serve as a yoga/mindfulness studio for classes or small groups.

The organization expects to award additional funds for out-of-cycle grant applications in 2016-17. In addition, the school district will fully fund two other projects that were initially LSF grant requests:

Anyone Can Read Music — Blake Siskavich and Ryan Ruiz (Lincoln School and Hanscom Primary School), $3,470
Staff Book Club — Sarah Collmer (Lincoln School), $616.

“In fitting with our mission to advance education through innovation, we are focused on supporting our schools push towards more creativity, collaboration, risk taking and authenticity,” LSF Co-chair D.J. Mitchell said in a letter to the Lincoln School Committee.

The LSF awarded a total of more than $50,000 in grants in 2015-16.

Event marks completion of new Hanscom Middle School

June 2, 2016

Left to right: HMS Principal Erich Ledebuhr, Col. David Dunklee, installation commander; Lt. Col. Daniel Herlihy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District deputy commander; Jonathan Braley, J & J Contractors president; Jennifer Glass, Lincoln School Committee chair; and Dr. Rebecca McFall, Lincoln superintendent of schools, prepare to cut a ribbon to mark the completion of a $34 million Hanscom Middle School on base June 2. The new school replaces a 1950s-era building with 21st Century Learning methods. (U.S. Air Force photo by Linda LaBonte Britt)

Left to right: Erich Ledebuhr, HMS principal; Col. David Dunklee, installation commander; Lt. Col. Daniel Herlihy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District deputy commander; Jonathan Braley, J&J Contractors president; Jennifer Glass, Lincoln School Committee chair; and Becky McFall, superintendent of schools, prepare to cut a ribbon to mark the completion of the new Hanscom Middle School on June 2.(U.S. Air Force photo by Linda LaBonte Britt)

Local and state representatives attended an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of a new $34 million Hanscom Middle School (HMS) on Thursday.

The school replaces a 1950s-era school building and accommodates more than 300 students in grades 4-8.

“The design of the school is visionary and contains many flexible learning spaces that encourage collaboration, creativity, the use of technology and the ability to personalize or differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all students,” said Erich Ledebuhr, HMS principal. “The building design increases learning opportunities in the areas of science, technology, art, engineering and math.”

The new 85,000-square-foot school is operated by the Lincoln School Department under contract to the Department of Defense Education Activity, or DODEA.

The ceremony included remarks from U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, who represents Lincoln and other nearby towns.

“As we sit here on Hanscom Air Force Base, which is committed to our national security, the best way we ensure our security as a country, and a peaceful future, is through educating our children,” she said. “So we are really bringing together today all those themes and all those hopes for our future that are embodied in this gorgeous facility.”

“The building is environmentally friendly, featuring integrated systems like photovoltaic panels, rainwater harvesting, solar hot water, high-performance HVAC and lighting systems,” Ledebuhr said. “In addition to being energy efficient, these features can be used as learning tools.”

The Lincoln School District superintendent spoke about the planning involved in the project.

“Many thanks to the faculty, staff and students who have done so much to make this move not only a smooth transition, but a launch into a future of innovation, engagement and authentic learning,” said Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall.

Since breaking ground on the middle school project in June 2014, students have been educated in nearby temporary facilities. Now the primary school will into the temporary facility over the summer so work can begin on a new building for the lower grades, which is slated to open in September 2018. Once they’re both complete, the schools be connected and will share a cafeteria and kitchen.

MSBA gives Minuteman an extension to November 30

May 30, 2016

The state has given Minuteman High School until November 30 to win approval from Belmont for a new school project after that town voted down a bond authorization earlier this month.

The Minuteman School Committee voted to bond for the project on March 15 and gave member towns 60 days in which to disapprove. Nine of the 10 towns in the Minuteman school district voted at Town Meetings this spring to approve spending a total of $149 million on a new school in Lincoln, with the Massachusetts School Building Committee (MSBA) paying $44 million of that cost if member town’s approvals were achieved in time.

The Belmont Town Meeting voted no on May 4, citing concerns about the school’s size and cost as well as enrollment projection. Minuteman Superintendent-Director Edward Bouquillon attributed the rejection to “a lack of understanding and a lack of information” due in part to Belmont’s political process.

In February, Lincoln decided to withdraw from the Minuteman district to avoid having to help pay for the new school as a member town. Non-member towns can still send students to Minuteman but will pay through a new out-of-district capital fee in addition to the annual tuition fee (both set by the state).

The time extension granted by the MSBA will “allow the district and other key stakeholders an opportunity to further engage Belmont officials in a substantive discussion about the benefits of moving forward with the project,” Bouquillon said in a May 27 statement, adding that he “remains hopeful.”

Ironically, Belmont officials played an instrumental role in getting the project to the point where approval is now within reach. The town pushed hard to get out-of-district communities to pay a share of capital costs and also pushed for changes in the regional agreement that were approved late last year by all 16 district communities. Those changes reconfigured the makeup of the district, led to weighted voting on the Minuteman School Committee, and revised how long-term debt is allocated.

No decision has been made by the Minuteman School Committee on how to proceed next. Members have at least two options: voting again to bond for the project and giving the member communities another 60 days in which to object, or calling a one-day district-wide referendum where the project is decided by the combined vote in favor versus the combined vote in opposition.