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Improve alignment between housing policy and school <br />district decisions <br />Awareness of the iterative nature of housing policies and school district policies is <br />expanding. Areas ofConcentrated Poverty have— orare believed 10have— poorer - <br />performing Gchoo|othanotherneighborhoodo.Chi|dren|ivinginneighborhoodovvith <br />concentrated poverty may be less prepared for school and may receive an education <br />inferior to children in neighborhoods with |eoo poverty, limiting their ability to stop the <br />cycle of poverty. Families with enough income to live where they choose are less likely to <br />live in Areas of Concentrated Poverty, in part due to expectations that schools elsewhere <br />are better. These dynamics make efforts to maintain a mix of incomes in a neighborhood <br />difficult, and disinvestment in areas of poverty is reinforced. Unfortunately, unaligned <br />jurisdictions, decision -making bodies, and a lack ofcommunication have hindered the ability <br />ofthe two worlds towork together to improve outcomes for both. <br />One example is the impact of land use and zoning on the number of households with <br />school -aged children in a community. If planning for housing that is attractive tofamilies with <br />children is not done in concert with school district investment decisions, valuable resources <br />may be used to invest in a school that will see a decrease in attendance overtime. Similarly, <br />school investments (ora lack thereof) influence the desirability of a neighborhood for families <br />with children. Land use guidance in such areas will not be complete if it does not consider <br />the impacts ofschool district planning onneighborhoods. <br />Land use can have other important impacts on school districts. Since few school district <br />boundaries align exactly with city boundaries, one city's land use decisions can affect the <br />student pool of district located mostly in a different city. Often these situations involve <br />discussions and decisions that are extremely sensitive; acknowledging the relationship <br />between housing stock and school districts from the beginning can minimize the potential <br />controveroy. <br />HOUSING POLICY PLAN <br />FOUR: Opportunities for Collaboration <br />