schools

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.

Cleaning the cruiser (Lincoln Through the Lens)

May 23, 2016

Lincoln School eighth-graders gave Lincoln Police Department Officer Matt Forance’s cruiser a good cleaning on Saturday, May 21, one of dozens of cars that were tended to during a car wash fundraiser for graduation. Sixty-two students will celebrate at Bemis Hall after the graduation ceremony on June 15. (Photo by Susan Taylor)

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

Minuteman school building project hits another snag

May 12, 2016

The Minuteman High School building project hit yet another snag last week when voters in Belmont rejected a bond measure to help fund the new building—even as planning has begun for what to do with the land that will be freed up by the old building’s demolition.

Under the terms of the regional school district agreement, member towns must be unanimous in authorizing debt for the project. The district now includes 10 towns, down from 16 after several including Lincoln voted to withdraw from the district earlier this year to avoid having to pay a member’s share of the capital costs. In any case, the new building will be located on Lincoln land close to the current building, which is just over the Lexington town line.

Belmont, which has a representative town meeting form of government, voted against the bonding measure by a 141-81 margin on May 4. Acton, Bolton, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington and Stow have already approved the project by wide margins, some unanimously, and the last two towns, Arlington and Needham, voted yes on May 9.

Minuteman Superintendent/Director Ed Bouquillon attributed the Belmont defeat to “a lack of understanding and a lack of information.” He said he had asked selectmen back in 2015 to be part of the discussions but was not invited to make a presentation at the Board of Selectmen or Capital Planning Committee meetings about Minuteman funding.

The town also has a different process in terms of allowing people to speak at Town Meeting, and Bouquillon said he was not allowed to speak there, either. Instead, the town’s representative on the Minuteman School Committee made a presentation that was essentially neutral, though the School Committee member himself was in favor of the project, according to Bouquillon.

“It was a very difficult environment to get information out,” he said. “We did not have any kind of articulate, powerful advocates among elected officials and stakeholders in town government.”

Another factor may have been that Belmont High School was just accepted into the funding pipeline by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), so voters were facing two possible school projects within a relatively short time span. However, this was also true for Arlington, which passed the Minuteman measure, Bouquillon said.

Minuteman is up against a May 27 deadline to secure funding approval from its member towns or lose a promised grant of about $45 million from the MSBA. Bouquillon said on Wednesday that he planned to write the MSBA and request a 120-day extension “to try to change the hearts and minds of 30 voters” in Belmont (the swing that would have made the difference at Town Meeting). “We’re going to try to do it more person to person and hopefully hold some information sessions in Belmont for Town Meeting members,” he said.

If Minuteman receives the 120-day extension but Belmont again votes down the funding measure at a Special Town Meeting, Bouquillon said he would recommend to the Minuteman School Committee that the the district hold a district-wide referendum, where a simple majority of total voters in the member towns could approve funding. However, getting a revote in Belmont is preferable for several reasons, he said. Among them: the district would have to pay for the referendum, which could cost $100,000; summer is not the best time for a vote like this; and the towns that have already approved funding may be “pretty annoyed,” he said.

“We want to avoid that pathway as an option,” Bouquillon said. “People could campaign against the new building and it could backfire on the whole eight-year process.”

Fate of the current building site

Meanwhile, Minuteman has begun exploring how to make the best use of the 13-plus acres of land in Lexington where the current school sits. The space could be the site of new construction for public or private educational organizations that could partner with the high school. One such candidate is Middlesex Community College (MCC), which recently reached an agreement for Minuteman to serve as a satellite campus where Minuteman students can double-enroll and take MCC classes for college credit.

Thus far, six classes thus far have been approved for qualified Minuteman students, though Bouqillon said he expected this number to grow. Minuteman students will pay $87 per credit—less than half of what other MCC students pay, according to a Minuteman release. The dual-enrollment classes will be taught by Minuteman teachers who have been approved by MCC as members of the its adjunct faculty.

Minuteman has been in talks with other schools including UMass-Lowell and the UMass-Stockbridge School of Agriculture for similar collaborations, Bouquillon said. Public-private partnerships for facilities that would be open to the entire community are also under consideration, he said, adding that he hoped any construction will be funded in full by those partners.

The land belongs to the Minuteman district and any future use must be compatible with its education mission, and he will not recommend that any of it be sold, Bouquillon said. However, “when you think about the location of this property and its potential, to do nothing would not be intelligent,” he said.

LSF spelling bee is a B-L-A-S-T

May 2, 2016

By Liz Lieblich

The Lincoln School Foundation‘s ninth annual town-wide Spelling Bee, a springtime ritual for grades 3-6, saw another record-breaking year, with 137 excited and bright students from Lincoln and Hanscom schools participating in the April 10 event. The Star Wars-themed event was filled with teamwork, spelling and even a Wookie.

The third-grade teams kicked off the day with three heats of competition, the winners of which went on to the championship round. The Omega Ms team with Mia Arvelo, Miguel Bannister and Morgan Gibson won the championship round with the word prohibit.

Three heats of fourth-grade teams competed to make it to the championship round. Under the team name Sparkleberries—Micayla Herlihy, Annabella LaPuma and Travis Rabe won with their final word pursue.

In keeping with the LSF’s mission to bring innovative ideas into our schools, this year’s fifth-graders helped pilot a new style of Spelling Bee competition. Every team was given the same word to spell out on a whiteboard and double elimination helped ensure that one extraordinarily hard word didn’t wipe out the whole group unfairly. A big congratulations goes out to fifth-grade team Buzz Killers—Oliver Ansin, David Christenfeld and Henry Johnson-Cramer won for the third year in a row by spelling the final word imagery.

For the sixth grade, it was Amal Dirrane, Emily Feng and Emma Griffith who won as Werd Nerds, ending the Bee by correctly spelling the word dramatically.

The LSF extends a special thank-you to Callahan’s Karate in Bedford. Richard and Winnie Callahan and a team of martial arts students dressed up as Star Wars characters and put on an exciting light-saber demonstration for the audience.

As always, the LSF had great support from school faculty and the community. Many thanks to the pronouncers: Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall; Assistant Superintendent Patricia Kinsella; Principals Beth Ludwig, Sharon Hobbs and Erich Ledebuhr; and the judges: teachers Jennifer Mastrullo, Deb Carpenito, Joe Colombo, Nancy Rote and Blake Siskavich as well as Officer Ian Spencer from Lincoln Police Department, Lincoln Parks and Recreation Director Dan Perira, and Lincoln Public Library children’s librarians Debbie Leopold and Denise Shaver.

The LSF is also immensely grateful to the local businesses that sponsored the Bee: 440 Labs, Budget Printing in Concord, Boston Sports Clubs, Callahan’s Karate, Cambridge Trust Company, Coldwell Banker, Doherty’s Garage, Donelan’s Supermarkets, Doug Carson Real Estate, the Hanscom Air Force Base Commissary, Marquis Tree Service, Mystic Valley Music Together, Party City, Something Special and the Whistle Stop.

The LSF is a nonprofit organization that solicits community donations for projects proposed by Lincoln Public Schools teachers and staff to enhance education. Click here to see projects funded by the LSD in 2015-16. Individuals may also donate to the LSF’s HATS program (Honor a Teacher and Staff) to fund grants.

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