Although the state's average is far below the nearly 11 percent of U.S. children who are privately educated, Utah's private-school population is growing steadily.
Blessed Sacrament, a Catholic grade school in Sandy, has added a grade each of the past eight years and still has a waiting list "a yard long," according to Sister Genevra Rolf, superintendent of the Catholic school system in Utah.Waiting lists also are the norm at St. Vincent in Holladay and J.E. Cosgriff in Salt Lake City, she said.
Catholic schools account for 42 percent of Utah's private-school population. They have class sizes that rival, and in some cases exceed, those in public schools, which are the largest in the country. And teachers' salaries run about 70 percent to 75 percent of those in public schools.
The church subsidizes tuition for parishioners. But the $1,030 price tag at the elementary level doesn't cover parents' cost of textbooks and extracurricular activities, as is the case at most private schools. Catholic schools also hold numerous fund-raisers in which parents are expected to contribute.
On the other end of the price scale, The Waterford School shut down its school in Provo in 1986 to reopen kindergarten through fifth grade in Sandy. The school, with annual tuition around $6,000, now offers nursery school through 12th grade, with a pupil population of about 700.
The school, which caps class size at 24 pupils, plans to construct two new buildings in 1993 to keep up with growth.
Utah County residents who didn't want to make the commute to Sandy when Waterford relocated in 1989 started Meridian School, a nonprofit, parent-directed private school.
Headmaster Kevin Clyde says the school, which offers preschool through 12th grade, has 320 pupils with 20 more expected to enroll next year.
"People who look at the public schools want a more rigorous curriculum and want to be more involved in their children's education," Clyde said.
Parents who cut back on their family budgets so they can afford private school tuition say they want their children to have the better educational, cultural and social opportunities.
Krista and Scott Stoker, who enrolled their son Philip in Rowland Hall-St. Mark's, say they were drawn by the school's range of subjects, including foreign languages beginning in the second grade and an awareness of global issues.
"I was afraid of the public school system - the overcrowding and lack of textbooks," Krista Stoker said.
To pay Philip's tuition, she returned to full-time work last year as a fund-raiser for a nonprofit organization.
The family also has made financial sacrifices, including no expensive vacations and driving a 10-year-old car.
George and Susan Hinde's phone has been ringing off the hook since they enrolled their 15-year-old daughter, Sally, in Judge Memorial High School.
An honor student last year at Hillcrest Junior High in Murray, Sally had only a couple of close friends.
"My daughter is not Mormon," says her father. "She tended to get left out. She wasn't necessarily ostracized, but the other kids did everything together with the church, so if you're not a member, you're left out.
"Now, instead of having one or two friends, she has 30 to 40 friends," Hinde said. "My phone never stops ringing."
The new arrangement, however, is not without drawbacks. Hinde describes the $4,000 annual tuition as "a big pinch."
Ruben and Mary Ann Jimenez haven't driven a new car for years - just one of things they have given up so their children could attend parochial school.
"My cars are 20 years old because I've been paying tuition for the last 20 years," said Jimenez, director of Utah's Office of Hispanic Affairs. "There is sacrifice involved here."