[Massplanners] [External] ADUs and School Age Children

[Cousineau, Christine]

Hi Katrina,

Here are some studies.


The Needham Public Health Division in 2017 interviewed nine MA communities on the impact of ADUs: Accessory Dwelling Units: A Report for Needham Public Health Division https://www.hingham-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15101/Needham-ADU-Report?bidId=  On p. 8, they state:

“Impact on schools and traffic: Interviewees noted that these two concerns arise with any proposed changes in zoning. All nine communities reported that ADUs had minimal or no impact on the number of school-age children or traffic. The main reason for the low impact is the small number of ADUs each town has added."


“A Needed Amendment to the Accessory Dwelling Unit Bylaw” (2023) by Green Needham has a paragraph on ‘Do we know the impact this will have on school enrollment?’ (question 20) https://www.greenneedham.org/blog/2023/04/a-needed-amendment-to-the-accessory-dwelling-unit-bylaw/


The studies below are about housing production in general, not ADUs in particular, but all point to minimal impact. If housing production in general has little influence, then the much smaller component of ADUs would have even less of an impact.


MAPC. 2017. The Waning Influence of Housing Production on Public School Enrollment in Massachusetts. https://www.mapc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/MAPC_HousingEnrollment_Final.pdf


MAPC. 2018. Living Little. https://www.mapc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Living-Little-Report.pdf

Section on School Enrollment: pp. 84-85.

“In 2017, MAPC conducted an analysis of housing permits and enrollment trends across 234 public school districts in the region from 2010 to 2016. The study found that there is no meaningful correlation between housing production and increased school enrollments” (p. 84). In particular, they show enrollment declines in Foxborough, Medfield, Medway, Sherborn, Stoughton (p. 85).

These school enrollment data are old (2010 to 2016) and have changed since COVID (probably with greater declines), but the impact of ADUs would seem to still be minimal or non-existent.


A 2019 New Hampshire study analyzed the correlation between rising/declining school enrollments and rising/declining property takes to support schools and other expenses.

England, Richard. 2019. Will More Kids in Town Raise the Local Tax Rate? https://nhar.org/assets/pdf/England_student_enrollment_Final_Report_to_NHAR(2).pdf

Video: Busting the Correlation Myth. 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXUqXFOPjp8

Articles about the study

O’Halloran, Dan. 2019. “Fear of kids’ impact on tax rates shortsighted.” https://www.nhbr.com/fear-of-kids-impact-on-tax-rates-shortsighted/

Brian, Paul. 2024. “Does more kids in town bring higher taxes? Not really, according to NH realtors study.” https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2024-01-10/do-more-kids-mean-higher-taxes-not-really-according-to-nh-realtors-association-study


Best,

Christine

Christine Cousineau, AICP
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
Tufts University
Bromfield-Pearson Hall, Room 117
503 Boston Ave
Medford, MA 02155
________________________________
From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> on behalf of Katrina O'leary via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2024 11:02 AM
To: Listserv (massplanners at masscptc.org) <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [External] [Massplanners] ADUs and School Age Children


Good morning.

Has anyone done a study on the effect of ADUs on the local school system?  I have the average number of school age children (SAC) that a 2 bedrooom dwelling unit could generate, but does anyone know of any other studies specific to ADUs and SAC?



Katrina O'Leary, AICP

Middleton Town Planner

195 North Main Street     Middleton, MA   01949     PH: (978)777-8917

When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and, therefore, cannot be kept confidential.





Caution: This message originated from outside of the Tufts University organization. Please exercise caution when clicking links or opening attachments. When in doubt, email the TTS Service Desk at it at tufts.edu<mailto:it at tufts.edu> or call them directly at 617-627-3376.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://masscptc.org/pipermail/massplanners_masscptc.org/attachments/20240223/80aa9fd0/attachment.htm>