Such improvements inside and outside the classroom are occurring even in a tough budgetary climate, as Braintree implements an investment strategy that emphasizes spending on teachers and supplements local revenue with state funding for facilities.
People outside of Braintree are noticing, as the number of students has grown by about 500 over the last decade.
“The people that are moving in … are all saying they are moving here for the schools,’’ Superintendent Peter Kurzberg said.
The town’s attitude is shown in the schools’ operating budget, which has grown from approximately $38 million in fiscal 2008 to $49 million in fiscal 2012, though with the growing enrollment, per pupil spending remains relatively low compared with nearby communities.
The majority of the overall spending increase reflects pay increases and contractual obligations, but some of it results from spending on new teachers. In the past four years, Braintree has added seven teaching positions. And during the period of 2008 to 2011, there was a marked improvement in most grade levels in the percentage of students ranked as “proficient’’ or “advanced’’ in both math and English language arts on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.
Grades that saw small drops in the percentage of advanced or proficient students still generally saw decreases in the percentage of students in the “needs improvement’’ or “warning’’ categories.
Other indicators have pointed to the schools’ success, including a decrease in the dropout rate from around 1 percent in the 2008-09 academic year to 0.3 percent in 2010-11.
Furthermore, Braintree High’s most recent graduating class had the highest percentage of students in the school’s history (93 percent) go on to further schooling.
At the same time, Braintree school buildings have undergone a flurry of fixes. Aided by reimbursements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, every school in the district has received upgrades on facilities since 2005.
In addition, in each of the past four years, the town has issued a $700,000 bond for various school capital improvements.
