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The School Committee threw some shade at the Lincoln School and helped pave the way for a little Walk & Roll at Muraco when it voted to support Community Preservation Act applications for the two elementary schools.
When it comes to cooling down a portion of the Lincoln Elementary School playground, the Parent Association turned to the School Committee after missing the deadline to submit a funding request to the Winchester Committee for Community Preservation (WCCP).
“They are looking to add a sunshade similar to the one that’s at VO for their playground,” said School Committee member Stefanie Mnayarji referring to the Vinson-Owen Elementary School.
Mnayarji said, since the Lincoln is considered an historic asset and because it involves a playground, it falls within the WCCP guidelines for possible funding.
What is it?
Lincoln School Parent Association (LSPA) Co-President Caitlin Musto said originally they were looking to install a permanent hardtop structure to the playground adjacent to the basketball court, where there is little protection from the sun.
However, a conversation with the building commissioner dissuaded them from following that avenue.
“The requirements were quite extensive,” she said. “There was quite a bit of red tape and that would extend the length of the project tremendously, if we could even get it to be done.”
Musto said it would have also driven the cost up significantly. So they re-evaluated and decided to go with a less expensive and more realistic option, she added.
The soft cover sunshade resembles a large umbrella, Musto said, adding they are actually asking for funding to purchase two.
“Each one is 10-by-10, and they could actually be right side by side and still fit within that same parameter of the original hardtop structure that we were looking at,” she said.
The sunshades also have a mechanism that allows anyone to snap off the fabric in less than five minutes. Musto said that means it’s something one of the janitors could do rather than having to call the Department of Public Works to dismantle it, which is the case for VO.
Mnayarji asked where the sunshades would be stored and Musto said LSPA has a storage area with lockers.
“We have plenty of space,” she said. “They fold up quite small, and it’s not an issue.”
“You know it seems like both a health and safety and a climate adaptation solution, and so I’m supportive of it on both grounds,” said School Committee member Tom Hopcroft. “And at some future point, we should also look at more trees.”
The committee voted unanimously to submit the application for LSPA.
“All right, Caitlin, looks like you’re throwing shade at Lincoln,” said Mnayarji, thanking her colleagues for their laughter. “I’ve been saving that joke all day.”
Walk & Roll
The School Committee also voted to support a WCCP application by the Walk & Roll organization, but only as it pertains to the Muraco School. The Walk & Roll application is for six small projects and only two, a new crosswalk and swapping out steel bollards and replacing them with barrels impact the Bates Road school.
“The Morocco community is supportive of it, and it would make that space safer for our students,” Mnayarji said. “So I’d like the committee to consider supporting the Tri Community Greenway improvement project that was submitted by Walk & Roll.”
Hopcroft wondered why they were being asked to support a project that only marginally impacted the Muraco property.
Matthews said the WCCP needs verification, or an OK essentially, if a project impacts any town owned property from the entity that has care and control.
“In this case it’s not 100% like with the Lincoln shade structure … which was 100% to benefit our school. This just happens to have an incidental crossing of our school property,” he noted.
Mnayarji agreed they should limit their support of the project to the parts that touch the Muraco, “because we don’t know if they’re building a water slide on the other end or something.”
And the board voted unanimously to support the part that impacts the Muraco, “and hopefully it improves our Muraco property,” Matthews said.
Chris Stevens is an award-winning journalist who has spent 25 years chasing, editing and photographing stories on the North Shore. She is the co-founder and managing editor of Gotta Know Medford.
