schools

Letter to the editor: reelect Nancy Marshall

March 1, 2015

To the editor:

It is of the utmost importance that Nancy Marshall be reelected to the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee. I have known and worked with Nancy for more years than I like to remember and have always found her to be sensible, practical, and financially responsible. In addition and maybe more important, she thinks first of the students and the world into which they will be going. She thinks ahead and endeavors to find ways to provide them with the training and skills they will need and ways in which the school system can provide those skills.

Please, make sure to vote and vote to reelect Nancy Marshall.

Note: This letter is being written by me as a private citizen and does not have an endorsement in any way with the Lincoln School Committee, of which I am a member.

Sincerely,

Al Schmertzler
142 Chestnut Circle

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

News acorns – 2/28/15

February 28, 2015

Codman Community Farms to hold CSA presentation at annual meeting

Codman Community Farms’ annual meeting, which is open to the public, will be held on Thursday, March 12 at the Pierce House from 6:30-8 p.m. Meet the newest board members for CCF and enjoy chili made with Codman Farm-raised grass-fed beef, beverages, coffee and desserts. The meeting will begin with election by CCF members of new board members Brendan Coughlin, John Mendelson, Dana (DJ) Mitchell and George Travis, followed by a panel presentation at 7 p.m. on “Community-Supported Agriculture and Locally Grown Food.” The panel will include directors, farmers and CSA coordinators from local farms in Lincoln and surrounding towns, including Ed Barker, executive director of Land’s Sake in Weston; Eric Robichaud, head farmer at CCF; and Ari Kurtz, owner and farmer of Lindentree Farm in Lincoln. The panel will discuss the latest trends in the growing farm-to-table movement and answer questions from the audience.

To find out more about Codman Farm’s meat CSA (which runs through June) or discuss a prorated share. visit www.codmanfarm.org or call 781-259-0456.

Multi-board meeting to discuss Town Meeting questions on school project

To learn more about the Town Meeting warrant articles relating to a school building project and the context in which they will be considered, the public is invited to attend a multi-board meeting/public forum on Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m. in the Reed Gym. For more information, see this letter to the editor from School Committee chair Jennifer Glass.

State senators do Commonwealth tour on Monday

Letter to the editor: school building warrant articles

February 28, 2015

(Editor’s note: click here for the most recent news story about the school building project, or use the search box in the right-hand column of the page to find older stories.)

To the editor:

At the March 28 Annual Town Meeting, the Lincoln School Committee will ask the community to consider three warrant articles related to a Lincoln School building project. The School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC), which was reconstituted by a vote at last year’s Town Meeting, has worked over the past 12 months to develop a wide variety of project concepts that range from repair projects at one end, to comprehensive renovation projects (repairs + systems upgrades + educational enhancements) at the other. For detailed information, the SBAC’s final report documents are here, and hard copies are available in the Lincoln Public Library and the superintendent’s office.

Gearticks defend state title on Saturday

February 27, 2015

Come watch the Lincoln Gearticks robotics team defend their state title at the State Competition on Saturday, Feb. 28 at Natick High School. There will be matches running throughout the day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so there are lots of opportunities to see cool robots from through out the Commonwealth as well as to cheer on the Gearticks.

The Lincoln Gearticks FTC team is made up of a combination of high school and middle school students ranging from age 13-18 based out of Lincoln. They participate in FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge), a robotics competition that requires designing, building and programming a robot with metals, motors, sensors and a remote-control receiver. The ultimate goal of the FIRST program is to educate the leaders of tomorrow in the engineering process as well as to teach students to innovate and solve both small and global problems.

In 2013-14, the Gearticks earned the Massachusetts State Inspire Award and advanced to the world championships in St. Louis, where they received a Judges Award for their knowledge and creative use of materials. The team hopes to qualify for the Super Regional Tournament by being one of the six best teams at the state championship on Saturday.

Lincoln has weathered snow so far, but next storm could add to woes

February 19, 2015

Lincoln has thus far escaped any major problems from the record-breaking snow and cold over the past few weeks, but the danger of roof collapses will only grow with another storm this weekend—and this one may include ice and rain as well as snow.

Police and fire officials reported that as of Thursday, there had been no power outages or medical emergencies directly caused by the weather. “We’ve been very fortunate,” said Police Chief Kevin Kennedy. “The DPW [Department of Public Works] needs to be commended for the job they’ve done maintaining the roadways.”

The Fire Department has had to alter its usual response to calls as a result of the accumulated snow, said Fire Chief Stephen Carter, who is also the town’s emergency management coordinator. In normal circumstances the department sends an engine and a ladder truck, but the ladder truck won’t fit down most driveways these days, so the department sends a second engine that carries extra water instead. Every piece of fire apparatus also now carries at least one snow shovel, since firefighters often have to clear snow away from homes just to get access to residents who need help, he said.

A worker uses heavy equipment to push back snowbanks from the corner of Sandy Pond and Lincoln Roads. Photo by Alice Waugh

Shortly before the January blizzard, Town Administrator Tim Higgins reported to the Finance Committee that “we had spent very little” from the town’s $265,000 snow removal budget. However, as of Thursday, the town had gone through $300,000, and some contractors’ bills from the last storm were still expected. “To see the budget swing so sharply in a four-week period was really pretty amazing,” Higgins said.

The DPW staff who man the snowplows “are pretty much exhausted… they’ve been essentially going around the clock for four weeks,” Higgins said. “I’ve been really pleased and impressed with the quality of their work and their dedication.”

Owners of commercial property with flat roofs have been “very proactive” in clearing snow, Carter said. Workers have been clearing roof drains above the Mall at Lincoln Station, and a crane has removed hundreds of tons of snow from portions of the building’s roof in recent days, said Bill Jackson, president of Jackson Associates, which manages the mall for the owner, the Rural Land Foundation.

Four years ago, the roof over a recently remodeled Donelan’s Supermarket collapsed from heavy snow. The entire mall was closed briefly for inspection and Donelan’s did not reopen until May 2012. After the collapse, roofing was reinforced over the entire mall where necessary and the Donelan’s roof was rebuilt to hold 55 pounds of snow and ice per square foot, well above the current code requirement of 35 pounds per square foot, Jackson said, “so we’re pretty confident.”

School being proactive in roof clearing

The Lincoln School has been clearing some roof areas during this week’s school vacation and the school’s facilities staff has been assessing the roofs in recent weeks. “They do not feel that our roofs are stressed, or in danger in any way,” Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall said in an email to the Lincoln Squirrel last week. “This proposed partial removal is proactive, not reactive. We do not feel that the current snow load presents a roof collapse problem in any way.”

Though there are leaks evident in several parts of the school, McFall told the School Committee on February 12 that those leaks are not due to structural problems but are simply indicators of where the roof membrane has been compromised due to age. “Regardless of how much snow is on the roof, when there is snow and it melts, it’s going to leak in those places, so we’ve got buckets all over,” she said.

The schools have already used up their allotment of five snow days, so the School Committee sent an online poll to all parents asking for their input on how any further snow days should be made up. McFall recommended to the committee that if more makeup days are needed, classes should be held on April 3 (Good Friday), June 25 and then part of April vacation, in that order. The last day of school is currently scheduled for Wednesday, June 24.

There’s a hydrant somewhere under there. Photo by Alice Waugh

Fire hydrants often buried

Water Department staff have been working to clear snow away from fire hydrants, and officials have urged residents to “adopt a hydrant” near their home and keep a three-foot radius around each hydrant clear of snow and ice. Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods’ staff has been out with plows and shovels but has had a hard time keeping up with the snow that blocks hydrants anew whenever the roads are plowed.

“It’s very frustrating to have cleared the hydrants in a section of town only to have that open area immediately filled with snow during the next storm,” Woods said. “The significant snow accumulation is making it difficult to clear the hydrants, but every hydrant that’s cleared by a resident gives the department that much more time to focus on the more difficult locations.”

There have been several instances when recently cleared hydrants have been intentionally filled or buried because a contractor saw an open space to push snow. “We understand it’s difficult to keep driveways and sidewalks open with this volume of snow, but there’s no excuse for intentionally covering a fire hydrant. It puts the public at risk,” Woods said, adding that intentionally burying fire hydrants is prohibited by state law and is punishable by a fine of up to $100.

More danger to roofs this weekend

Although there’s been a lot of snow since late January, the snow has been light and fluffy, so it hasn’t stuck to tree branches and power lines. However, this weekend’s storm is expected to feature rain in addition to heavy wet snow, which will only add to the weight already borne by roofs.

“That’s not going to be good,” Carter said. Even without any more new snowfall, the snow that’s already on roofs will settle, and eventual melting and refreezing will only worsen the situation. “I’m dreading that,” he said with a sigh.

At the behest of state and federal governments, Lincoln and other towns have improved their planning for weather emergencies. Local emergency personnel have been checking in with at-risk seniors, worked with The Commons on planning for sheltering residents if it becomes necessary, beefed up mutual aid with surrounding towns for emergency responses, and used reverse 911 calls to alert residents of road closings and potential weather dangers, including potential roof collapses. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Authority also offers tips on roof snow removal and how to recognize signs of a structural problem.

Meanwhile, residents are scrambling to find someone—anyone—with expertise in clearing snow and ice dams and repairing roofs and gutters that have already been damaged. “These guys are going to be busy until May,” Carter said.

School panel seeks volunteers for class size policy reasearch

February 10, 2015

The Lincoln K-8 School Committee is creating a Class Size Research Committee to survey and summarize the recent educational research about the effects of class size on student achievement. The research committee will comprise one member of the School Committee and two to four members of the Lincoln community. We invite members of the community who are interested in participating in this effort to contact the School Committee and tell them about your relevant background.

The School Committee has reviewed its class size policy every seven years or so. The last comprehensive review was in 2007, and so now the School Committee wants to know whether there is recent research that might justify a broader review of the current policy. The specific aims of the research committee will be to identify any new research, to clarify the findings that might be relevant to the Lincoln Public Schools, and to present to the School Committee a summary of the high-quality evidence and insights that might guide a formal review of the whole policy. (The broader review would then consider expenditures on class size reduction in the context of the district’s educational and fiscal priorities and of the town’s spending plans and capacity.)

Any interested member of the community should submit his or her name to the School Committee at schoolcomm@lincnet.org by Friday, Feb. 27. The School Committee will appoint the members of the Research Committee at its meeting on March 5. TheClass Size Research Committee would then work for six weeks, and would submit its final report to the School Committee by April 20.

News acorns – 2/2/15

February 2, 2015

Left to right: Evan Lee, Katherine Feng, John Dale and Jada Edwards.

Lincoln School students excel

At a January 31 audition, four Lincoln School music students qualified for the Eastern District Music Festival in March: violinist and concert mistress Katherine Feng and second violinist Evan Lee (orchestra), second trumpet John Dale (band) and soprano II Jada Edwards (chorus). Also auditioning were Kent Mashimo, Kevin Sheppard, Tara O’Malley, Jaelynn Rodney and Colin Christian.

Students in the Lincoln School’s Model UN extension were recognized for excellence at events in recent weeks. At the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNAGB) conference at Northeastern University for over 450 students, Lincoln seventh-graders Tara O’Malley and Darcy Flaherty were assigned to the World Health Organization (WHO) committee. As delegates from South Korea, they received a perfect score for their position paper on pandemic response. Eighth-graders Elena Christenfeld and Irene Terpstra and seventh-grader Keith Hylton, representing Nigeria, were also in the WHO committee. They earned Best Delegation award—the highest award possible—for a combination of the work they did on their position paper and negotiating skills during the conference. Then at the December Invitational Model United Nations (DIMUN), 80 students from all over New England had to respond to a pandemic outbreak using real-time information that would change the experience throughout the day for students. At the end of the day, Irene received one of six awards for Best Negotiator.

Six Lincoln School students made honor roll in the AMC-8 exam sponsored by the American Mathematics Competition. The Lincoln School also made the the School Honor Roll, which is unusual for such a small school. The awardees were seventh-grader Zachary Tam (distinguished honor roll); honor roll awardees were eighth-graders Irene Terpstra and Howie Tsang, and seventh-graders Laura Appleby, Piper Bau and Collin Graf.

Downton Abbey finale screening at Pierce House on Feb. 22

For the second year in a row, the pleasure of your company is requested by the Pierce House Committee at a screening party for the final episode of Season Five of Downtown Abbey on Sunday, Feb. 22 from 7-10 p.m. Join your fellow Lincoln Downton-ophiles to watch the popular drama together in the elegant parlor of historic Pierce House. Hats and gloves optional; tea, champagne and sweets will be served. Admission contribution is $10 at the door. Seating is limited, so contact Virginia Rundell (vq@verizon.net or 781-259-0201) to reserve your place now.

Multi-sport court proposed for school campus

January 20, 2015

The proposed sports court wold go in the blue area next to the tot playground behind the Codman Pool parking lot.

The proposed sports court would go in the blue area next to the tot playground behind the Codman Pool parking lot (click to enlarge).

By Alice Waugh

Lincoln will have a new outdoor court with lighting for basketball, tennis, street hockey and other sports by late summer if officials and voters give a funding thumbs-up.

The proposal by the Parks and Recreation Committee (PRC) calls for a $146,000 multi-sport moveable court to be installed next to the playground at the rear of the Codman Pool parking lot. The court surface, which would be made of perforated plastic and surrounded by netting, could be taken up and relocated if staging space is required during a school building project.

Although Lincoln has recreational facilities for children and town tennis courts, “what we really have is a big gap in the sixth-to-eighth-grade, high school and college-age folks,” said PRC chair Jonathan Dwyer in a January 8 presentation to the School Committee, which oversees use of school property.

The court could serve as an outdoor drop-in sports facility for teenagers and others in the afternoon, early evening and weekends all year round, since it could also work as an ice-skating rink, Dwyer said. “This brings them back to the [Lincoln School] campus and connects them more to the town as they [remember] hanging out at the playground, at the pool and on the fields,” he said.

The location also has the advantage of easy access and parking next to the existing lot and its streetlights, “so we’re not creating a new lit area located in the middle of nowhere—we’re just augmenting what’s already there,” said Dan Pereira, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

The court would also expand the town’s after-school tennis program, which usually can’t start until after April school vacation because the clay courts need more time to recover from the winter snow and ice.

The PRC estimates that the facility would cost $146,000, including lighting and a water line extension. A traditional court with a poured concrete base would cost about $20,000 less, but it would not have the advantage of being movable and water-permeable, Pereira noted. The Community Preservation Committee has determined that the project qualifies for Community Preservation Act funding and is considering the proposal for recommendation as part of its funding request at Town Meeting in March, Dwyer said in his written proposal to the School Committee.

If funding is approved at Town Meeting, installation could begin in early August and would take about a week, making it ready for use by August 30.

“This sounds like a fun thing to bring forward and could be a real benefit to students,” said Jennifer Glass, chair of the School Committee, which voted unanimously to support the PRC’s request.

School architects present final report; warrant articles mulled

January 15, 2015

By Alice Waugh

Reporting on results from previous school building forums, architects noted that residents seem to be converging on a “price point” of $35 million to $40 million for the town’s net spending on a school project.

At the fourth and final School Building Advisory Committee public forum on the school building project on January 12, consultants from Dore & Whittier recapped the previously presented three families of renovation and construction options and their estimated prices (see the Lincoln Squirrel, Dec. 8, 2014):

Option 1 – facilities needs only: $12–$29 million
Option 2 – facilities needs plus “a la carte” educational enhancements: $29–$47 million
Option 3 – facilities needs plus comprehensive educational enhancements: $54–$66 million

The architects added a seventh choice to the Option 2 family called Option 2G, which is the same as 2F but without $7.7 million in deferred facilities work such as a girls’ locker room in Reed Gym, improvements to playing fields, paving and curbing, etc. Option 2G would cost an estimated $39.9 million, said Jason Boone of Dore and Whittier.

At the State of the Town meeting in November and again this week, architects and school officials explained that Lincoln could apply to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for funding to offset some of the project’s cost. The town could be eligible for a reimbursement of 35 to 40 percent, but only for a project that was approved and overseen by the MSBA. The agency will support only projects that meet all of a school’s demonstrated educational needs, which for Lincoln would mean one of the choices from Option 3 or perhaps an upper-end Option 2.

More than 76 percent of residents at the State of the Town expressed a preference for the Option 3 family, while 20 percent voted for Option 2 and 4 percent for Option 1.

Applying again for MSBA funding would also add at least 18 months to the project timeline and about $3.3 million in cost escalation associated with that delay, as well as a requirement to conform to the state’s requirements and procedures. The MSBA would also require another feasibility study as well as a “clear distinction” between the school project and a community center that might be built, said Jon Richardson of Dore & Whittier.

Homing in on options

Since state funding is far from certain, residents at the third SBAC forum in December were asked which specific project options they would support, depending on the MSBA situation. The options that received the most votes, along with the net costs to the town after a state reimbursement of 40 percent, were:

2E—without state funding ($36.9 million), 17 votes
2F—without state funding ($47.6 million), 17 votes; with state funding (Lincoln’s share would be $28.6 million), 7 votes
3B—without state funding ($55.8 million), 19 votes; with state funding (Lincoln’s share would be $33.5 million), 10 votes
3C—with state funding (Lincoln’s share would be $35.3 million), 44 votes

Option 2G, which was not one of the voting options at that forum but was discussed verbally, would cost about $39.9 million overall, or $23.9 million with state funding.

“What we came to realize is that there is a price point the town is maybe organizing around” of $35 to $40 million as the town’s net cost for a project, Boone said.

What will the MSBA say?

Although there is some uncertainty as to the state’s willingness to fund a project , “we feel that a well-crafted statement of interest and strong support from the town would lead the MSBA to reengage,” Richardson said. “Their primary interest is in successful projects. They would love to take what at the moment is an unsuccessful project and turn it back into a successful project.”

In 2013, the MSBA approved a reimbursement of $21 million for a $49 million project, but the pledge was withdrawn after voters failed to approve the project by a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting.

Applying for state funding “is not just filling out a form and hoping for the best. Lincoln has to find a way to demonstrate its support for an MSBA project,” said School Committee chair Jennifer Glass. The committee would therefore seek a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting this March and a simple majority at the ballot box on the question of whether to apply, as well as support from all town boards and commissions.

To submit a statement of interest to the MSBA, the School Committee and Board of Selectmen are not required to gather a two-thirds voter majority or have any town-wide vote at all, “but that’s not how we want to do this.” Glass said. “If we can’t get two-thirds now, when there isn’t any money on the table,” it will be even harder to do so once voters are asked to approve a specific expenditure, she added. “It is a risk but, it’s a self-imposed risk.”

Deciding on the questions

The School Committee must now come up with wording for Town Meeting warrant articles to find out whether voters want to (1) support a project with a net cost to the town of $30 million to $48 million, (2) reapply for MSBA funding, and (3) approve spending for a feasibility study. The cost of that study would depend on the results of the first two votes. Glass presented three possible ways to frame these questions. Her full presentation also included potential construction timelines that would vary according to the various voting outcomes, with construction beginning anywhere from fall 2016 to mid-2018.

Some residents at this week’s forum worried that the price range voters might be asked about ($30 to $45 million) is too broad, or that multiple questions would be too confusing.

Resident Sara Mattes suggested dividing the various questions between the regular Town Meeting in March and a special Town Meeting in June. “You’re going to really jam a Town Meeting, and it will be very complicated and people may get frustrated,” she said.

Asked about the impact on homeowners’ tax bills of the various options, Glass said that the Finance Committee was working on estimates. At the State of the Town meeting, the FinCom offered figures for estimated property tax increases ranging from 2.5 to 7.3 percent, or $321 to $2,254, based on the median tax bill of $12,503 in fiscal 2015. The estimates assumed different scenarios such as the amount borrowed ($10 million to $50 million), the interest rate (3.6 percent or 4.6 percent) and the time span of the bond (20 or 30 years).

News acorns – 1/12/15

January 12, 2015

Final School Building Advisory Committee forum on Jan. 13

At a School Building Advisory Committee public forum on Tuesday, Jan. 13 from 7-9 p.m. in Reed Gym, Dore & Whittier Architects will present a summary of the work carried out this fall related to the development of renovation options to address the facility and educational needs of the Lincoln School. Also at the meeting, information will be shared and solicited regarding the Town Meeting presentation and possible warrant articles. The last public forum was held in December (see the Lincoln Squirrel, Dec. 9, 2014).

Chimney scam alert

The Lincoln Police Department would like Lincoln residents to be aware of a scam that has victimized a number of residents recently. The scammers call saying they will clean your chimney for half price and use high-pressure selling tactics. When they arrive, they tell you that you need several hundred dollars of work that you really don’t need. If you receive a call or if they come to your home, please call the police at 781-259-8113.

Kindergarten registration beginning soon

The Lincoln School is beginning kindergarten registration for the 2015-2016 school year. Children who are residents of Lincoln and 5 years old before October 1, 2015 are eligible. Letters and registration forms will be mailed to families starting February 1. Please call the school if you do not receive a letter and your child is kindergarten-eligible. Registration requires your child’s birth certificate and proof of residence in Lincoln. Please call the Smith office at 781-259-9404 if you have any questions about these requirements. A Parent Orientation night will be held on April 15 from 6:45-8:30 p.m. Families will learn about the kindergarten curriculum, program setup, placement process and have an opportunity to ask questions.