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Welcome back!
So something big happened this week. Some folks are pretty happy about it. Some folks are pretty upset about it. Other people are completely indifferent and checked out. How will the world move forward from here?
Prince William grew his beard back. Again. We can’t keep doing this over and over again. He tried it once already, it went poorly, and we all know he is no Jason Momoa.
As for Sudbury news, here’s what we have for you this week.
SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup
L-S Responds to Boston Magazine Rankings
Mass Central Rail Trail Timeline Comes Into Focus
Select Board Opposes Maynard Housing Development
Let’s get into it!
L-S Responds to Boston Magazine Rankings
By Kevin LaHaise
The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Committee discussed the Boston Magazine high school rankings during their meeting on Wednesday evening. Sudbury Weekly questioned the accuracy of the data used by Boston Magazine in our first story about the rankings. This week, the superintendent of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School confirmed that the data Boston Magazine used was flat-out wrong.
Superintendent Andrew Stephens sent a message to the school community on November 5, and confirmed that the data was inaccurate, while also explaining his views on rankings:
“You may be aware that the 2024 Boston Magazine Greater Boston School Ranking came out recently and that LS was listed at #36 for 2024 (vs. #9 for 2023). While I personally and professionally do not feel that rankings that have limited categories and push the comparison between districts come anywhere close to reflecting the arc of the educational experience for a student at LS over their 4 years here, I do understand that many people do pay attention to these types of reports. That said, if you examine this year’s rankings vs. last year’s rankings, you may notice that LS has impressive numbers and actually improved in a number of the metrics Boston Magazine utilizes that are higher than a number of schools that are further up the list. One area I believe impacted the rankings is tied to the percentage of teachers receiving an exemplary rating as part of the evaluation process. While a number of schools utilize the ‘Exemplary’ rating on the teacher evaluation rubric, LS and some other schools for years have not utilized this rating in the evaluation process. As that number is 0 in 2024, it is likely to have impacted our ranking directly. In fact, the 2023 and 2022 rankings have this percentage of ‘Exemplary’ ratings at 38.6%, which is erroneous. Further, the percentage of students attending college is inaccurately low and based on colleges voluntarily confirming student attendance to a clearinghouse. It is thus our belief that rankings like this are not indicative of all that we do here at LS and I hope this provides some context for you.”
The school committee was of a similar mind on rankings. They felt that it was unwise to spend much time discussing rankings at all, but felt it was worth informing Boston Magazine that their data was wrong. While members acknowledged that some members of the community might care about rankings, there seemed to be a consensus that the committee did not want the high school to change it’s overall approach in the school, or to teacher performance evaluations, just to chase rankings. (1:06:10)
Member Lucy Maulsby summed up the consensus position of the committee:
“But I don’t think we should be in the business of chasing our rankings. We should not be looking at all the surveys and analyzing all the data. Boston Magazine is particularly high-profile in our corner of the world and if we know they’re using information that’s inaccurate, we should let them know.”
Mass Central Rail Trail Timeline Comes Into Focus
By Kevin LaHaise
The Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) is soon to be under construction in Sudbury according to comments from a Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) representative.
During the November 6 meeting of Sudbury's Rail Trail Advisory Committee, DCR’s Amber Christofferson informed the committee that they will be putting the project out to bid soon, and hope to have a contractor engaged by February 2025.
DCR has to spend approximately $5 million of funding for the project by June of next year. That means much of the work could be completed by the start of next summer.
“My goal is to hire a contractor by February because we have to spend this five million dollars by June 30th. That does’t mean the whole project will be done, but a vast portion of it will be done. Which is the paving, there’s a good amount of fencing, some signage, and maybe the traffic signals and crossings.”
Christofferson presented the latest designs for the “diamond,” which is where the Mass Central Rail Trail and Bruce Freeman Rail Trail intersect.
The design is essentially a bike roundabout with a display at the center to honor the history of the railroads. The committee provided feedback on the design, and input on signage along the trail. One of the challenges discussed was the lack of sidewalks and bike lanes in proximity to the rail trail and the diamond in particular. That could be a safety issue if Sudbury wants to direct trail users to amenities and businesses in the commercial hub along Boston Post Road. The committee has been discussing trail connections for both rail trails over the last year, and more discussion and planning is expected in the future. (23:00)
Christofferson was candid that DCR is hoping for some local support with rail trail maintenance along the MCRT. She noted during the discussion that DCR has a very limited budget relative to the miles of trails and pathways they manage. She indicated that major capital improvements, such as repaving, fall to DCR in their typical agreements with towns. However, some towns support DCR with routine maintenance as part of their agreements. (32:25)
Marcia Rasmussen, the Planning and Development Assistant from the Town of Sudbury, also told the committee that the town’s new Director of Public Works is already working on a detailed maintenance plan for the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, which will be the responsibility of the Town to maintain eventually. She felt the town would be prepared to accept responsibility for rail trail maintenance when the time comes, though a date for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to turn the trail over to the Town has not been determined yet.(53:00)
Select Board Opposes Maynard Housing Development
By Kevin LaHaise
During the Wednesday, November 6 meeting the of the Sudbury Select Board, the board discussed submitting a letter of opposition to a proposed “hostile” 40B housing development in Maynard, right on the border of Sudbury.
In the end the board was unanimous in opposition. Members discussed concerns ranging from environmental impacts, siting concerns because portions of the project might be on the Sudbury side of the border, easements on the Sudbury land, public safety, water sources, and wastewater.
A letter drafted by Member Charlie Russo covered most of those topics and board members provided input and suggested edits.
The primary takeaway from the conversation was that the project may be dead upon arrival. The development might require a connection to the Sudbury Water District for some or all of its water supply. The Sudbury Water District has no obligation to supply water to a project in another town, and it doesn’t even need to respond to such a request for service according to Town Manager Andy Sheehan.
Russo’s draft letter noted that Sudbury is already approaching the withdrawal capacity of it’s own water supply, and it would be endangering its own residents if the Sudbury Water District subsidized an out-of-town project.
The Sudbury Water District does serve some customers outside of Sudbury, which are primarily customers on the Sudbury-Wayland border near Boston Post Road. But the executive director of the Sudbury Water District has previously told the Zoning Board of Appeals that it’s a small number of customers.
While the Sudbury Water District hasn’t made any public comment about the project, Sudbury Town staff, the Sudbury Select Board, and Maynard are all in unified opposition to it. Maynard has also made it clear that they cannot supply water to the project.
The Select Board letter will likely be approved at a future meeting of the Select Board and submitted ahead of the deadline for comments in Maynard.
Parting Thoughts
How can anyone sum up such a consequential week? Perhaps a historical lens could help…
The Sudbury 250 Committee is tasked with planning Sudbury’s “commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the commencement of the American Revolution.“ At the top of their meeting this week, their Chair, Radha Gargeya, read the following into the record:
"We, across the town and across the country, concluded yet another quadrennial federal and state elections that are peaceful, free and fair. The mission of our committee, the Sudbury 250 Committee, is to not only celebrate the beginnings of the American story - the Revolution and the Independence – but also to celebrate the enduring experiment in democracy for 250 years. Implicit in our celebrations is the unshakeable belief that 50 years from now, and 100 years from now, when Sudbury 300, and Sudbury 350 meet, our children and their children continue to celebrate our enduring democracy – which shall remain a shining city on the hill that lights up not only the US but the rest of the world."
Onward!