Lincoln School Committee approves 17 Foundation grants worth $49,395

LINCOLN -- May 7, 2015, Lincoln School Committee approves $49,395 in Foundation grants and signals kindergarten reduction. The committee unanimously accepted 17 Lincoln School Foundation grants spanning both campuses, including a sixth-grade chicken coop engineering build, a Hanscom memoir project on military childhood, and an "I Am Lincoln" diversity film. Co-chairs Joe O'Connor, Carrie Hoke and Tara Mitchell highlighted a new "innovation accelerator" technology portal built with Director of Technology Rob Ford and funded by a two-year, roughly $30,000 Ogden Codman Trust grant, the Foundation's first multi-year award from the trust. Superintendent Becky McCall said May 1 enrollment shows kindergarten about 10 students below projection at 52 to 55, and she anticipates moving from four sections to three, eliminating one teaching position. Hanscom Primary Principal Beth Ludwig reported BEST-team discipline incidents have fallen by roughly half. Warrants totaled $978,081.23.