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

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Letter to the editor: PTO thanks Community Partners

letter

To the editor:

On behalf of the Lincoln PTO, I’d like to extend our deepest thanks to our PTO Community Partners whose contributions have helped make possible our many enrichment activities at the Lincoln School in 2014-15. These activities include visits to the school by poets, dancers and puppeteers, as well as science, nature and engineering workshops, historical reenactments and more (see the “What We Do” page on the Lincoln PTO website). Our Community Partners include:

Our children’s education is richer because of the help these Community Partners provide, so I hope you’ll join me in thanking them for another great year at the Lincoln School.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Bodnar, Lincoln PTO Chair/President

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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Residents start to narrow down school options

schoolBy Alice Waugh

In a follow-up to the State of the Town meeting where attendees expressed preferences for school and community center ideas with sticky dots, those dots were out in force again last Wednesday as residents focused on which direction to go for a school building project.

The December 2 meeting was the third in a series of open forums hosted by the School Building Advisory Committee to update residents on renovation/construction options and cost estimates for meeting the school building’s basic facilities needs as well as educational upgrades.

At the State of the Town meeting on November 15 (see the Lincoln Squirrel, Nov. 17, 2014), architects from Dore and Whittier presented project possibilities are grouped into three broad categories (all estimates include construction costs, professional fees, phasing and escalation due to the passage of time):

  • Option 1: facilities work only ($12.2 million to $29 million)
  • Option 2: facilities plus some “a la carte” educational enhancements ($29.5 million to $47.6 million)
  • Option 3: a comprehensive package of facilities and educational upgrades ($54.7 million to $58.8 million)

Architect Jason Boone of Dore and Whittier reported last week that 76 percent of residents expressed a preference for Option 3, while 20 percent preferred Option 2 and just 4 percent preferred Option 1. In comment sticky notes at State of the Town, residents said they wanted the school project to be tied as closely as possible to a community center project, asked that the new school spaces be energy-efficient, and supported the educational vision outlined by Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall.

Key variables that residents will have to weigh when deciding which route to pursue are cost, which educational enhancements to choose, the importance of energy efficiency in light of the the town bylaw seeking to eliminate fossil fuel consumption in town buildings by 2030, the extent to which people want to preserve the existing school, project timing, and the level of joint school/community use for space in a renovated school.

The cost of a school project will depend on whether the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is willing to pay for some of it. Boone noted that in the previous go-round, the MSBA would have paid about 40 percent of the $49 million cost for a new school if residents had approved the project by a two-thirds margin at Town Meeting.

If the town decides to seek MSBA funding again, the project must address all of the school’s facilities and educational needs to be eligible, meaning “you would have to do a high Option 2 or one of the Option 3s,” Boone said.

There are some conditions that would come with seeking MSBA funding. The town would have to resubmit a statement of interest and do another feasibility study; there would be a delay of at least 18 months in starting construction (vs. doing a project with town money only); and the timing and amount of funding is uncertain.

Using Option 3A as an example, a 40 percent grant from the MSBA would mean the town would get about $24.3 million, though that would be partially offset by an extra $3.3 million cost caused by the time delay while going through the MSBA process, Boone said. If all went well, the renovated building under Option 3A would be ready for occupancy in April 2019 without MSBA funding and June 2020 with the funding, he said.

Involving the MSBA would also mean less opportunity for overlap between new school space and a community center. “They do have restrictions and requirements, and the relationship of a community center to a school project would be problematic. Trying to combine projects could be a potential red flag to the MSBA,” Boone said.

Residents discussed various community center sites at the State of the Town and indicated that having it located on the site of the Hartwell pods was the best option. “We have not explored any options that embed any community center programming in any of our options,” but none of the Dore and Whittier proposal would prevent such a facility from going on the Hartwell site, Boone said.

Educational enhancement options

When it comes down to choosing among the educational enhancements under discussion, “we acknowledge that we will likely have to make some very difficult decisions,” McFall said as she discussed a sheet listing the educational value (high, moderate or modest) added by various upgrades, “but anything we do to the building will be an educational improvement—anything,” she said.

A cafeteria/commons space for teaching larger groups appeared as a high improvement in three of McFall’s lists of upgrade goals: flexible multi-use spaces, security (since it would involve building a link between the Brooks school and the Reed gym), and community use. “Adding that space really meets a lot of different needs,” she said. A package including a Brooks cafeteria would cost at least $36.6 million by Dore and Whittier’s estimates.

As for the energy efficiency of the various options, Boone said Dore and Whittier hasn’t come up with estimates for work that would meet the 2030 bylaw standards, but any building that did so would need advanced heating/ventilation/air conditioning technology incorporating alternative energy such as geothermal, wind and/or solar.

“It’s important to note that there would be a measurable and significant cost premium to truly achieve that goal,” he said. That priority is also affected by the preservation variable. The more of the existing building you try to save, the harder it becomes to achieve the 2030 goals,” Boone said. “We need to hear from you as to prioritization.”

Those at the meeting were then asked to indicate with one sticky dot which of the specific options they would support with MSBA funding and the another dot what they could support without money from the MSBA. The result: Option 3C got the most stickers overall and a clear majority of the “with MSBA funding” stickers, while several options—2D/E, 2F, 3B and 3C—garnered a good number of  “without MSBA funding” stickers. All of Dore and Whittier’s options are illustrated here.

Options 3B and 3C offer the same features and differ only on the proportion of renovation to new construction. Option 3B is essentially the idea proposed by the “Fireside Seven,” a group of Lincoln architects and designers including Douglas Adams and Ken Bassett that formed after the defeat of a new $49 million school at Town Meeting in November 2012 (see the Lincoln Squirrel, April 2, 2013). It would cost $55.8 million and calls for about two-third renovation and one-third new construction. Option 3C would cost $58.5 million and include 52 percent renovation vs. 48 percent new construction. The drawing for that option shows a new two-story segment connecting the Smith building and the 1994 link, although Boone said two floors weren’t a given and that residents should focus only on the percentage of renovation to new construction.

News acorns – 12/4/14

acornL-S concerts include choral groups tonight

The L-S Winter Choral Concert will be performed on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in Kirschner Auditorium at the high school, while the L-S Instrumental Concert will be a week later on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. in the same location.. Both concerts are open to the public and free of charge.

Tonight’s choral concert will feature the L-S Concert Choir & Chamber Singers, the Lincoln School Chorus and the Curtis Select Chorus. The L-S choirs are singing music of America, Ireland, England, France, Macedonia and South Africa, and selections from Carmina Burana. The L-S student-led vocal groups Acafellas, Accent, Achoired Taste, Coro de Chicas & Musigals will perform a variety of popular music to start the concert.Recording of the concert will be available for pre-order. Concessions will be available.

The Instrumental Winter Concert on December 11 will include large ensembles including the Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and smaller groups including the Flute Choir and Violin Ensemble. Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride will provide the grand finale with 130 instrumental students performing together on stage. Highlights from the program  will include:

  • Orchestra—Marche Slav by Tchaikovsky; Jupiter from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst; selections from Bizet’s Carmen; and the Allegro movement from Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G minor (used for the theme song of the movie Amadeus).
  • Symphonic Band—Cinicinnatus March by H.A. Vandercook; Blue Ridge Saga by Jim Swearingen; and An American Fanfare by Rick Kirby.
  • Concert Band—Avenger March by Karl A. King; Albanian Folk Dance by Shelley Hansen; and Chorale and Shaker Dance by John Zdechlik (including the familiar Shaker hymn ‘Tis The Gift To Be Simple)
Dog walkers on the school campus: please scoop!

The Lincoln School has noticed a recent increase in dog walkers failing to clean up after their pets when traversing the campus play areas. Principal Steve McKenna notes that this is not pleasant for the child who steps or rolls in just the wrong place while at recess.

Kids invited to participate in First Parish Christmas Pageant

Rehearsals for the December 14 children’s Christmas Pageant at the First Parish Church will be December 7 and 14 during church services. There’s a part for every child who wants one. Children will gather in the sanctuary (the white church) at 10 a.m., then proceed with the pageant leaders up to the Stone Church for rehearsals and performance at 11 a.m. Invite the grandparents and bring a camera, and be prepared to sing along! The First Parish also invites families to attend the Solstice Service and/or one of two Christmas Eve services. Please see the First Parish calendar for more information.

Old Town Hall Exchange hosts “Gift Local” event

The Old Town Hall Exchange will host the 4th annual Gift Local Artisan and Craft Show on December 13 and 14. This event will host a variety of talented local artists, featuring jewelers, woodworkers, and more. Stop by and get some of your holiday shopping our of the way while supporting some terrific local businesses. The event takes place on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 6-9 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 14 from 1-6 p.m.

Talk on bicycling history on Dec. 17

The Lincoln Public Library presents “Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport and Society” with author Lorenz J. Finison on Wednesday, Dec. 17 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Tarbell Room. Explore the rise of Boston’s cycling through the lives of several participants. Finison details the life of Kittie Knox, a biracial 20 year old Bostonian. Books will be available for purchase.

State of the Town clarifications and additions

stateofthetown-croppedA November 17 article in the Lincoln Squirrel about the State of the Town meeting originally gave the wrong first name for Dore and Whittier architect Jason Boone and misstated the purpose of a December 2 public forum, at which residents will help the SBAC and Dore and Whittier narrow down the school project options in preparation for a final report in January.

Since the article was published, the Squirrel acquired some of the documents handed out at the meeting:

The original article has been updated to reflect these clarifications and additions.

Residents delve into community center, school project at State of the Town

stateofthetown-cropped(Editor’s note: this article was updated on November 18 to include clarifications and additional document links.)

By Alice Waugh

At the State of the Town meeting on November 15, hundreds of Lincoln residents asked questions and heard cost estimates for two projects that are on parallel discussion tracks heading for Town Meeting in the spring: a school building project and a community center.

The Lincoln School needs millions of dollars in basic repairs as well as improvements such as cafeterias and other upgrades to improve education, while the Council Aging, now in cramped quarters in Bemis Hall, also urgently needs better space, town officials said.

“In both cases, doing nothing is not an option,” Selectman Renel Fredriksen said at the start of the meeting.
[Read more…] about Residents delve into community center, school project at State of the Town

Letter to the editor: important discussions at State of the Town

letter

Editor’s note: See this Lincoln Squirrel article for information on the school project and this one for coverage of the community center charrette.

To the editor:

This coming Saturday, Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the State of the Town meeting (SOTT) in the Brooks auditorium, we will have an opportunity to weigh in on two important projects that are making their way through the town decision-making process: the community center project and a school building project. We will be discussing “pathways” for both projects, but all pathways have certain pitfalls and potholes that must be addressed before we can pave a route that the whole town might travel together.

[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: important discussions at State of the Town

School needs at least $27.5m even without cafeterias, architects say

schoolBy Alice Waugh

The School Building Advisory Committee’s architectural consultants last week presented detailed lists of repair and renovation options and cost estimates for the Lincoln School that will be the topic of town-wide discussion at the State of the Town meeting this Saturday, Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. in the Brooks auditorium.

[Read more…] about School needs at least $27.5m even without cafeterias, architects say

Letter to the editor: McFall presents preliminary school budget

letter

To the editor:

The fiscal year 2016 (FY16) preliminary budget for the Lincoln Public Schools has been developed and will be presented to the School Committee on November 6, 2014. The process of developing the school budget began in August when the administrative team and I began an examination of each budget line item within the context of the District Strategic Plan. The process will continue through January 22, when the School Committee will vote on the budget that will be presented for a vote at the March 28, 2015 Town Meeting. I encourage parents and faculty to attend the School Committee meetings throughout the budget process and to provide input during the public comment portion of the meeting.

There are several key considerations in developing the budget:

  • The budget must be aligned with the School Committee guidelines that were finalized in September.
  • The Lincoln School budget is based on guidance from the Lincoln Finance Committee. For FY16, FinCom established a 2.5 percent budget guideline. This provides a 2.5 percent increase over the FY15 appropriated budget.
  • The Hanscom budget is developed based on projected enrollment bands agreed upon in the Federal contract. For the past several years, the budget has been built assuming enrollment at the “Band 3” level of 550-599 students.
  • Both budgets are developed with the intent of providing a level services budget (this year’s services at next year’s cost) and presenting possible improvement initiatives for consideration.
  • A major component of the budget is predicting the number of sections needed according to class size policy. On the Hanscom campus, class sizes are determined by Federal guidelines. On the Lincoln campus, class sizes are governed by the Class Size Policy.

The FY16 level service budget we will present on November 6 exceeds the 2.5 percent budget guideline established by the Lincoln Finance Committee. I will present the preliminary budget and explain the resulting “gap” between the budget guideline and the costs of providing a level service budget. At the School Committee meetings on November 20 and December 4, we will present options for reducing the budget in order to meet the FinCom guideline. This will require creating a list of gap-closing measures and providing information about those reductions and the impact they will have on the educational program.

At this time, I want to make you aware that our enrollment projections for the Lincoln School indicate that our current four sections of Grade 3 can be accommodated in three sections of Grade 4 in 2015-2016 and still meet the requirements of the class size policy. The total number of class sections in the Lincoln School would remain the same as the current year.

As the process unfolds and budget decisions are made with the School Committee, I will do my best to provide information to the community.

Sincerely,

Rebecca McFall, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Lincoln Public Schools

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.

Residents brainstorm options for a community center

Residents including Selectman Renel Fredriksen (center) discussed options for the Hartwell property.

Residents including Selectman Renel Fredriksen (center) discussed options for the Hartwell property.

By Alice Waugh

More than 100 residents packed into Hartwell Pod C for an October 8 charrette to share ideas for a community center in Lincoln and discuss where it might be located.

The evening included lively discussion over pizza as attendees clustered around maps and models of five sites identified in a 2012 report by the Community Center Feasibility Study Committee: Bemis Hall, the Hartwell pod area, the current Department of Public Works site on Lewis Street, the commuter parking lot behind Donelan’s, and Pierce House.

The Community Center Study Committee (CCSC) formed in June and hired Abacus Architects and Planners to gather community input and produce an analysis of possible sites for a facility that would be home to the Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) and the Council on Aging (COA) as well as a central meeting place for residents. While the PRD is content with its current location in Hartwell Pod C, the COA has outgrown Bemis Hall, which has numerous issues including insufficient parking, activity space and handicapped access as well as lack of privacy for counseling. All of the Hartwell pods need upgrades as well.

Abacus began its work knowing that the PRD did not want to relocate. “Moving the programs away from the children makes no sense,” said Abacus architect David Pollak. That said, there are other questions such as whether the COA should share renovated or newly built space with the PRD, stay in a renovated Bemis Hall, or move to another site in town. He noted that less total space—about 20,000 square feet—would be required for a shared facility, vs. 10,000 square feet for a separate COA and 15,000 square feet for the PRD.

After Pollak outlined the pros and cons of each of the five possible sites for a community center, residents split up into smaller groups around maps of each site, talking and manipulating little foam blocks that represented segments of buildings and seeing how things might fit within property lines, wetlands and other features. The groups then shared their brainstorming ideas about each site with the entire gathering.

Pierce House — Possibilities include construction on the southeast corner of the property, underground beneath the parking lot, or even in Pierce Park, a notion that drew good-natured boos from some in the crowd.

Hartwell — This site resulted in the greatest number of feasible ideas. The parking and traffic pattern could be reconfigured and one or more two-story structures could fit on the site, perhaps with space in the middle to be shared by the PRD and the COA, residents said. The structures could also be used as swing space for a school building project. The primary concerns were keeping both age groups safe and protecting the stream that runs between Ballfield Road and the parking lot. Some even suggested putting a second entrance to the site on the east side.

Bemis Hall — Residents in this group saw the close proximity of the historic cemetery and Bedford Road as significant obstacles. However, Pollak noted that other towns have solved similar problems by expanding into an adjacent hillside via underground space with an atrium to let in natural light. “From an architectural standpoint it’s quite doable, but no one is recommending that this is the right thing to do with the mustering yard,” he said.

Commuter parking lot — Although it’s a good location for a senior center, the property is fully used on weekdays by commuters, and users would encounter a bottleneck in the Lincoln Road entrances that are also used for the mall.

The DPW on Lewis Street — Most of the conversation in this group focused on the “challenges and disorders” of the site, said Town Administrator Tim Higgins, who was a member of the group that looked at this location. At issue is relocating the DPW to the transfer station off Route 2A, “which is not an attractive use in any residential neighborhood,” he noted. Although the site has potential for mixed-use development for housing and retail, “there was more concern than creativity voiced about the site” as a senior center, Higgins added.

Residents who couldn’t attend the charrette were invited to complete a brief online survey or to attend one of the other community center public meetings:

  • Friday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. at a COA-sponsored open house in Bemis Hall
  • Friday, Nov. 7 at 8:30 a.m. (a joint session with the PTO and the School Building Advisory Committee) in the Brooks auditorium

Abacus and CCSC members will analyze the information gleaned from the forums to craft a proposal for residents to consider at the State of the Town meeting on November 15.