While the DeKalb County School District was releasing a report detailing declining enrollment and the likelihood of future school closures, Atlanta Regional Commission Executive Director & CEO Anna Roach was separately outlining the major population shifts reshaping metro Atlanta.
Roach was a speaker at the South Metro Development Outlook Conference on Feb. 11 and discussed factors influencing how residents choose to live across the region. The conference was held at the Georgia International Convention Center.
While metro Atlanta is the 8th fastest growing metropolitan area, Roach said the older population is expanding rapidly, and younger families are choosing to have fewer children due in part to rising housing and food costs.
“We’ve been seeing schools closing and school districts having to make really difficult decisions about where those closures should take place,” Roach said. “That is a result of our declining birth rate in the region.”
DeKalb County Schools says “there are 20,000 empty seats across” the district. The school district has outlined nearly three dozen proposed school closures on its website, including four high schools.
Last year, Fulton County Schools cited declining enrollment for the controversial closure of Parklane Elementary School in East Point and Spalding Drive Elementary School in Sandy Springs.
Metro Atlanta’s population grew by 92,590 between 1990 and 2000. The increase slowed by more than 25% between 2010 and 2020. Roach said the Atlanta Regional Commission expects slower population growth over the next 25 years, with a projected peak increase of 75,000 between 2030 and 2040 before tapering to nearly 51,000 by 2050.
And the same time, the rate of aging adults will continue to increase significantly. By 2050, adults age 65 and older are expected to make up 22 percent of the population, compared to 12.5 percent in 2020.
“To meet this growing need, the ARC is investing through our Aging and Independent Services department so that we can continue to serve our aging population, and those with disabilities, as our population changes,” Roach said.
