More parents keep children in public schools
More and more area parents are opting to send their children to the King Philip regional schools rather than pay for private schools, a trend officials say coincides with the construction of state-of-the-art buildings.
Officials for the regional district, which educates students from Norfolk, Plainville, and Wrentham, expect about 80 percent of last year's eighth-graders to enroll in the high school this year. That's up from about 75 percent in recent years. "We think that may have something to do with the great new facilities," King Philip Superintendent Richard Robbat said.
The remaining students, the ones who leave the district, include those who choose to attend private school, as well as those who attend a regional vocational school or move out of the district.
Extensive reconstruction of the high school in Wrentham is scheduled to be complete before school starts on Sept. 5, Robbat said. A revamped academic wing opened last year, and workers are putting the finishing touches on the renovated fine arts wing, which includes an 848-seat auditorium, four music rooms, a cafeteria, administrative offices, and space for music practice and instruction.
The project, which began in spring of 2005, is costing about $55 million, some 63 percent of which will be reimbursed by the state, Robbat said. Before that, the middle school was renovated at a cost of $26.8 million. The state picked up about 65 percent of that bill.
Robbat said the architect redesigned the school -- with its brick exterior, sleek curves, and modern-looking windows -- to mimic a college campus.
"It's fantastic," William Rice, the former middle school principal, said of the new facilities. "It's really impressive."
School Committee chairwoman Clare Sullivan agreed that the new buildings may have caused some people who were considering private schools to change their minds. Some people, she noted, send their children to private schools not because the public schools are lacking, but because of family tradition or religious beliefs. "Then you have the people on the fence, and I think those are the people who are choosing to stay," Sullivan said.
The increase in retention is coming at a time when the high school has received its share of negative press. In the 2006-2007 school year, the school made news when a student brought an unloaded gun to school, when approximately 30 students were suspended from extracurricular activities for attending a party where alcohol was present, and when state Senator Scott Brown attended an assembly and read aloud profanity-laced messages he said students wrote about him. Recently, Sullivan has come under fire from some Wrentham residents for a vote she cast in 2003 to give a retiring principal lifetime health benefits.
However, Robbat said that people evaluate the school based on its academic reputation and not on a few negative incidents.
"The thing you realize is that you can't control the actions of people," he said. "Most people . . . judge the school based on how their kids did."
More students in the schools will cost more money, but Plainville Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes said the increased retention may be a sign that the money is well spent. "If you're charging people [taxes] in either case, I'd much rather have people satisfied with the product they're getting," Fernandes said. "It's going to cost more, but hopefully we're delivering value."
Still, Fernandes joked, the money freed up should more students attend private school would be tempting. "From a town management standpoint, I'd like to see them all go to private school," he said.
