Enrollment rates in Massachusetts have been going down significantly over the past 10 years. Just in the past 10 years, there has been a decrease of 41,000 students across Massachusetts and Cape Cod. The result of this makes the cost of running schools go up, leading to higher taxes for the citizens of that town. Even at DY High School, they have seen a decrease of 200 students in these past 10 years. If there continues to be this decline schools will be forced to close and even merge. If schools merge it will cause longer commutes for families, which will lead to a lot of strain on families. 

     My belief is that the reason enrollment rates are suffering is due to the housing crisis in Massachusetts. The high cost of living in Massachusetts disallows new families to move here and let their children go to school here. Cape Cod is full of pretty rich people, most people are buying their 2nd homes or vacation homes. The truth is that they are taking up the houses for new families to move here. If we don’t see action in this housing crisis or action in fixing the decline in enrollment rates soon there are going to start being problems with many school districts, and affect many families across the state. 

     My current proposal is that HAC (Housing Assistance Corporation) receive more government funding from the state. HAC is an organization that helps provide relief to families and those that need it when buying a home. They provide many services such as; providing money/ loans to help aid in purchasing a home, as well as building homes for people to live in. This organization is absolutely phenomenal and already does a lot, however, I believe with more funding they will be able to help much, much more, and be able to help a lot more people to hopefully solve this housing crisis and bring families back to Cape Cod and Massachusetts. 

     Personally, with my family, we were in a similar position to what most people first moving here have to face. We first moved here not being able to afford a house so we were forced to rent. We rented 3 different houses over the course of about 4 years until we found HAC. My family did a lottery through HAC for the town of Yarmouth, we ended up winning the lottery and with it a grant of 100,000. Without this help, my family would not be able to be in the position that we are in now. That grant really helped my family get us back on our feet, with a home, and helped my parents be able to jumpstart their careers as well. So, please join me in signing this petition to help solve the housing crisis, bring the enrollment rates back to their original place, and help more families like mine.