REL consultant responds to latest Mundy Mill study

GAINESVILLE - The consultant who conducted a study of the impact on the Mundy Mill project for the developer says the conclusions of the latest study conducted for the Gainesville school are inaccurate because of "major deficiencies."

Jeff Reedy says he stands "one hundred percent" behind his projection that the project will add less than 600 students to the city school system - not the 1,200 or so the latest study and others done for the school board suggest.

Reedy says the UGA study, conducted by Doug Bachtell, Professor, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, projects the "number" of children which is not the same as "enrolled public school students"; makes a huge assumption when it comes to average people per household; and, ignores better sources of data, among other things.

FULL TEXT OF REEDY'S RESPONSE

I stand 100% behind my projection that Mundy Mill will add less than 600 students to the Gainesville City School System.

I believe that the Bachtel conclusions are inaccurate due to these major deficiencies:

1. His report projects a number of "children" -- which is not the same thing as "enrolled public school students". His report should exclude the following populations that are not enrolled in the public school system:
· children under the age of six
· drop-outs
· graduates, still living at home
· home-schooled students
· private-schooled students

2. All "four different procedures" in the Bachtel report are based upon average population per household. For example, he describes the first procedure with this statement: "When considering the population per household (3.1), we assume 2 adults and 1.1 children." This is a huge assumption. This simple assumption does not take into account children not enrolled, grandparents living at home, households without children, or a multitude of other factors that should be considered. It would be much better to simply look at enrolled public school students per housing unit (which is what I did in my study).

3. The Bachtel report ignores two better sources of data:
· The GCSS and HCSS student transportation data, which I believe is the very best source of raw data, and
The National Center for Educational Statistics (which is a division of the U.S. Dept. of Education). They have provided cross-tabulated U.S. Census data that shows enrolled public school students per housing unit. This data supports my conclusion that some types of housing (e.g. single family homes, townhomes and apartments) have fewer students per unit and other types of housing (e.g. rental houses and duplexes) have more students per unit.

4. The only "similar location" cited in the Bachtel report is located in Fulton County. My study is based upon personal examination of Gainesville and Hall County neighborhoods.

A full text of Bachtel's study is posted in a related story elsewhere on this Web site.