Week in Review: Foxboro Ranks High in Graduation Rates, Country Fest Custodies Plummet, and More

New Rankings Place Foxboro 2nd in State for Graduation Rate

If Foxboro High School is good at one thing, it's graduating students according to new statistics from Boston Magazine.

The high school currently ranks second in the state graduation rate at 99 percent. Only Medfield has a better rate at 99.1 percent.

Overall, the Foxboro Public Schools are 64th on the magazine's list of the best school districts in Massachusetts.

Post Office Exploring Selling Foxboro Location

With a 38-40 percent drop in the amount of mail delivered nationwide in the past five years, the U.S. Postal Service will now go ahead and explore the possibility of selling the Foxboro post office building on Wall Street and move mail operations to Mansfield.

If the sale is successful, Foxboro would retain a retail post office that would only need a 400 sq. ft. store but all mail delivery related operations would move to the Mansfield location.

“We’re not closing any post office. We’re going to relocate the retail service,” postal service representative Joseph Mulvey told the Foxboro selectmen on Aug. 20.

A decision on the post office’s fate will be made by the facilities manager after a comment period that will end in early September. If a decision is made to close the building, a notice will be sent to the town manager and posted in the post office. Residents will have 30 days to appeal the decision.

Hiring Process for Director of Special Education for Foxboro Schools Under Way

The Foxboro Public Schools are preparing to hire a new special education director and it appears they will have plenty of options.

According to superintendent Debra Spinelli, there were 33 applications shortly before the deadline to apply, a high number for the position according to her.

Assistant Superintendent Amy A. Berdos will now form an interview team by Sept. 18 made up of teachers, school committee members, and parents in the Special Education PAC. School committee members Tina Belanger and Stephen Udden volunteered to represent the committee.

After the first round of interviews set to take place on Sept. 23 and 25, Spinelli will interview the semi-finalists before making a recommendation to the school committee.

Country Fest Custodies Drop by Nearly Half

After last year's record breaking custody total, this year's New England Country Festival featuring Kenny Chesney was a quieter affair.

Of the nearly 100,000 people that attended both shows, 89 people were arrested and 179 people were taken into protective custody. Overall, 268 people were taken into custody according to the Foxborough Police Department.

On night one, which featured a crowd of 46,801, 58 people were arrested mainly for underaged drinking and occasionally for disorderly conduct. 72 were taken into protective custody.

Night two saw a decrease in arrest with 31 and but protective custodies increased to 107. Attendance for the second show was 51,587.

Chief O'Leary: Cooler Weather and Better Planning Lead to Calmer Country Fest

A better plan from police that seemed to work and cooler weather cutting down on excessive drinking are just some of the reasons this year's Country Fest at Gillette Stadium saw a drastic drop in custodies according to Foxborough Police Chief Ed O'Leary. 

While the yearly show did keep police busy according O'Leary, there was not an avalanche of activity as there has been in the past.

After over 600 people were taken into custody last year, O'Leary said he thinks people are finally getting the message about what type of behavior will be tolerated at the two-day concert.

"I think it's one of those cases were sooner or later people understand that this is not the place to do that kind of stuff," O'Leary said.

This year, 268 people were taken into custody during both shows. Most of the arrests were related to underaged drinking.