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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 8, 2005 Housing, job market oust kids from city School district hears dire predictions about future By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Expensive real estate, a lack of jobs and limited housing options affordable for young families in Ashland were cited as the primary reasons for a “significant loss” in enrollment at public schools here, according to Judith Barmack, a Portland demographer who issued a report on the subject for the Ashland School Committee. Ashland’s public schools have experienced a 16 percent loss in enrollment over the past five years and, according to Barmack’s future population estimations, the local schools will continue to drop by 15 percent over the next five years. “The plunge has been quite severe,” Barmack said. Citing a graph presented by former Ashland School Board member Chuck Keil, she said, “It’s clear from Chuck’s graph that Ashland has experienced a severe loss of people in their 30s. This is the major reason you don’t have more kids.” Ashland School Board members and its Bond and Facilities Committee discussed dwindling enrollment numbers and what the school department should be doing about them at a meeting on Wednesday night. Jim Teece, a member of the bond and facilities committee called the enrollment drop “an issue that is bigger than just the school district.” He asked Barmack, who studies school enrollment numbers all across Oregon, if she knew of any other communities that “have gone through this and swung it back.” Barmack replied, “Not that I know of.” She said the communities that make up Ashland, such as the university and the theater groups, aren’t the type that typically have children. There was agreement throughout the two committees that the enrollment drop was related to a lack of jobs in Ashland and the skyrocketing price of real estate compared to the rest of Jackson County. “There are no jobs here,” Keil said. He said three of the five biggest employers in Ashland are downsizing while the other two are remaining stagnant. The five employers he cited were Southern Oregon University, the Ashland School Department, Ashland Community Hospital, the city of Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The first three are the ones he said were shrinking. School Board member Matt Marr said Ashland has “California-priced homes and Oregon-priced jobs.” Barmack said young families are being discouraged from moving to Ashland because of the relative price of homes here. “I talked to a couple of real estate agents, and they all said the same thing,” Barmack said. “They are not getting the families.” Barmack said Ashland’s hesitancy to expand and grow is effectively preventing young families from being able to afford the living situation here. “The housing being built in Ashland is not family-friendly,” she said. “High-density housing doesn’t appeal to families.” She said more apartments and town-house-style housing, affordable or not, would not have a significant effect on this trend because young families tend to want a yard for their children to play in. In the Portland area, she said, young families are choosing longer commutes over clustered, urban-style housing. “Basically the community doesn’t want to grow,” Barmack said of Ashland, noting that infill would have little effect on drawing families to this community. “Ashland hasn’t amended its urban growth boundary since it was established in the mid-1980s. [Infill] does not get you families. It depends on what your goals are.” Ben Bellinson, a member of the bonds and facilities committee, said economic redevelopment could be a key component to attracting more families. “The housing is expensive but if we had the job base to support it, it wouldn’t be as much of an issue,” he said. But Alan DeBoer, also a member of the bonds and facilities committee, said many people do work in Ashland. “A lot of people are commuting here,” he said. “We’re losing kids because they can’t afford to live here.” Juli Di Chiro said 65 percent of school districts in Oregon are in a period of enrollment decline. Barmack agreed and said enrollment stagnation is becoming an issue nationwide as the children of the baby boom generation graduate from high school. However, she noted that Ashland was being affected to a much greater degree than any place she has studied. Barmack said, on a more positive note, that, “a smaller district is not necessarily a worse district. This isn’t necessarily a negative comment on your community.” DeBoer agreed. He said smaller class sizes would allow students to get more personal attention. “From an education model, it’s really good.” But Keil countered, “From a funding model, it gets pretty ugly.” In terms of how to affect the situation, school board member Heidi Parker said, “We need to come up with a solution. It’s not healthy to have a community so unbalanced in its population. We have some control over this problem. What it takes is political will. As much as we can engage the city council would be great. We need to bring groups together to address the problem.” Teece agreed and added, “We built this community. It’s time to accept it and make the best decisions moving forward.” Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. 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