Foxborough Schools Get High Marks from Students, Teachers, and Parents

Students, teachers, and parents had mainly good things to say about the Foxborough Public School during the fifth annual culture and climate study.

Presenting the results at this week’s school committee meeting, Superintendent Debra Spinelli said, “Our overall message in five years is one of stability and growth. We’re a very stable school system and yet we’re experiencing growth.”

1,678 stakeholders participated in the poll made up of 62 percent of Foxborough teachers, 23 percent of parents, and 70 percent of students.

“To me this is like a report card for how your team is doing. I’m very pleased with what this says,” Chairman Bruce Gardner said.

Highlighting some of the results, Spinelli said that nine of our 10 participants rated the school system as good or excellent.

Other notable statistics include 99 percent of teachers thinking that parents are welcomed and encouraged to attend school activities, 88 percent of students believe that the guidance department helps students select courses that will prepare them for college and their future career, and 91 percent of parents said they felt welcomed at their child’s school.

Spinelli said while students and teachers believe bullying is happening less often, parents still think it is an increasing problem.

“That is still a worrisome problem so their perception is not what students and teachers think. We took that as a good sign,” Spinelli said, noting the similar result in the two groups that are in school.

Another area that did not rate as high was the enforcement of discipline in schools, with only 72 percent of students and 77 percent of teachers agreeing with that statement. Spinelli said that issue mainly had to do with the enforcement of the dress code at the high school.

“There’s always a lot of discussion about the dress code. That was a hot topic last spring,” she said.

Student representative Melissa Lynch added that much of the debate was on wearing tank tops that followed the two to three-finger rule in school. While some teachers enforced the rules, others wore shirts that did not cover their shoulders and did not enforce the rules, creating the inconsistency.

Spinelli said she hear a lot about the inconsistent enforcement and would address the issue, noting the issue needs to be looked at again.