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Understand, people, you're talking about one new high school to replace two existing schools. Enrollment at the new "Warwick High" would be in the neighborhood of 2700 students, making it the largest high school in the state by about 1000 students, and 1 of the 5 or 6 largest high schools in New England. That, in itself, should not be a daunting number as Warwick schools have dealt with such enrollments before. But not in nearly 50 years, not with Warwick's current demographic, and not with the current volume of traffic on Post Rd. and Warwick Ave.

I guess I could support the construction of a new high school if there was any evidence, anywhere, that such a project would yield an improvement in measurable academic outcomes when compared with existing outcomes. Such evidence simply does not exist. Schools are a reflection of the families and parents from whence students come. Measurable outcomes correlate very closely with parental income and education levels, and not at all with the age or condition of buildings. The reality is that bright parents tend to have bright kids who do well, independent of the physical nature of where instruction occurs. The best regional example might be the new and gleaming Lawrence High School in Mass., which remains at the bottom of statewide test results while the Catholic school down the street attains outstanding results while housed in an ancient building.