I think it really depends on your family priorities. The good private schools usually offer enough financial aids in order to make the tuition affordable for every ordinary family. So I guess it is really the family’s choice.
Hahaha! What makes me think that you mean Utah? Years ago, a woman I know had to fight with the school district to have the school bus deliver her children HOME after school, rather than to the after-school LDS religious institute. She was told, “But ALL the children go there straight from school!”
There are over 2,000,000 households in the USA which make more than $500,000 a year, and more than 100,000 which make more than $1,000,000 a year.
A family making $500,000 a year really has no problem paying $75,000 a year on highschool for their kid. Moreover, a family making $500,000 a year also usually has savings and other accumulated wealth to draw on.
They simply have to live as though they were a family with above average income, rather than a family in the top 5%.
A family which makes $250,000 is left with around $150,000 after taxes, SS, medical insurance, etc. That means that they need to live off of $75,000 a year. That is around the amount that a family making $150,000 has after taxes, SS, etc.
So, to afford sending a kid to an expensive private high school, and family in the top 5% needs to live as though it was in the top 30%. That means that they need to live off of more money than 70% of the families in the USA live off of.
So “tighten everything” is a relative term.
Of course, if they, for example, also have the $1,000,000 in assets that the top 5% by wealth have, they can probably live better. If they own their house, rather than pay a mortgage, even better.
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If you have the experience, you will find the “FA” qualification bar is really very high though. I would say there is no formula what kinds of wealth should send kids to private schools, it is really expensive. However, if the kid can get what he likes, the family feels comfortable and worthwhile, it will be OK, really good private schools can offer a lot of values and opportunities both in academic and else that even the best public can’t offer.
I do see seniors drive brand new X7 to school every day, I do also see parents drive rugged Honda ridding kids to school everyday, I don’t feel overwhelming with that. We also realized in the kiddo’s class, the majority of families live in houses above $3.0M, we also learned that some of the kids come from common families too, they still shine in the school
Thank you. That is is a sweet thing to say. Most days (if you asked them), I think my kids would agree , but some days, they definitely would NOT! 
More seriously, so far they’ve all loved their K-12 experience enough that they have no regrets about my choice to prioritize private school tuition over other discretionary spending. As for loving me and my various expectations/rules/demands, well it depends on the day and the kid.
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This is so true!