2016-07-07-2020-min (Social Diversity Working Group)

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20/20 Vision Committee Social Diversity Working Group Minutes for Meeting on Thurs., July 7, 7:45 AM Parker Room, Town Office Building Attending: Elaine Ashton, Judy Crocker (by phone), Andrew Dixon (by phone), Peter Enrich. Guest: Marian Cohen Please note that near -term action items agreed to are indicated below by use of bold -type. 1. It was generally agreed that the two primary goals for the working group are a) to provide a demographic analysis of the evolving character of the town's population, and b) to prepare a survey instrument for townwide distribution, providing comparisons with previous 20/20 surveys and assessing community attitudes on a range of topics of concern to 20/20 and the elected boards. 2. With regard to the demographic analysis, dimensions of interest include: age, income, ethnicity, duration of residency in town, family configuration (particularly including numbers and ages of children), age (and family configuration) upon moving into and out of town, and reasons for moving into and out of town. In addition, there is an interest in data on housing costs, housing types, and the relationships of these to demographic characteristics. 3. To further the demographic analysis, Marian agreed to work on updating the demographic analysis that she did last year and to share that information with the working group. Judy will speak with Maureen Cavanaugh (school department staff responsible for demographic tracking and enrollment planning) to determine what sorts of data she is gathering and how her work can be connected with ours. (Judy noted that Maureen is also the lead contact with the Enrollment Advisory Group, which is the successor to the Enrollment Working Group.) Judy will also obtain data on student eligibility for free and reduced school lunches, as evidence of economic status. Peter will check with Ginna Johnson, to update her on the discussions and to see what data the Planning Board can share (or would like to see). Youth sports organizations and religious congregations were identified as additional possible sources of information about incidence of economic need in the town. 4. With regard to the demographics of people moving into and out of town, it was agreed that a survey of realtors (or realtor office managers) might be helpful. Andrew will consider how such a survey might be disseminated. Marian will