Daly City school district opens affordable housing units for teachers at elementary school
On Tuesday, a school district in Daly City celebrated the opening of an affordable-housing complex specifically for teachers on the grounds of an elementary school.
With California's high cost of housing, schools across the state are having a tough time attracting and retaining teachers. What Daly City has done is being held up as a model for the rest of the state.
Eastmoor Heights is the newest housing complex in San Mateo County. It's designed to prevent school employees from having to make the tough decision to leave the area.
On Tuesday morning, when they cut the ceremonial ribbon for the new complex, the Jefferson Elementary School District became the first K-8 district to provide workforce housing in the county, and one of only a few in the state.
The new 56-unit development includes a courtyard, community room, laundry facility and a play area for kids. But best of all, to get to Margaret Pauline Brown Elementary School, workers simply walk right across the parking lot.
"The school is right there, their home is right here!" said Daly City mayor Juslyn Manalo. "I mean, it's really wonderful to have our teachers, our staff, rooted in our community, and not living two hours away."
It's a situation that is causing a lot of teachers and staff to simply pack up and leave. Priscilla Patalinghug was facing that choice. The district administrative assistant was already looking for a job in another state when she heard about the plan to build worker housing. So she decided to stick around for a while to see what would happen.
"We love the city. We love the weather. We love the people, but you've got no choice. You have to live," said Priscilla. "I'll try my best to apply and if I get qualified, then we'll stay. If not, then we'll move somewhere else."
But she did qualify for one of the new apartments, and now she and her two kids have a brand new affordable place to call home that is just a short distance from her work. Of course nothing happens without money. Facing a 25% employee turnover rate in 2018, district voters approved a $33 million bond measure to pay for school worker housing.
It was considered an investment for the future. That investment is now starting to pay off. Board president Shakeel Ali said it's having a real impact on the district.
"We used to get a lot of applicants who would interview for our district from out of state, but because of the high rent prices, they wouldn't accept the position," he said. "So now, I heard that we have a plethora of new teachers from out of state who have moved in because of the housing."
The state is taking note. Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Mary Nicely said there is now direction within the California Department of Education to identify school-owned properties that could be utilized for workforce housing.
"There's 75,000 acres of developable land in California on school sites, that we should be able to access and work on," said Nicely. "This is our starting point, where there's affordable land ready to go."
She said that's enough space to build up to 2.5 million affordable housing units. And for the Jefferson Elementary School District, it's also an opportunity to hold on to experienced workers like Priscilla.
"This is a really great option for us now," she said. "It's an opportunity for us to stay for many, many more years."
Eastmoor Heights is actually the second school worker housing project for the area. Earlier this year, a 122-unit complex opened to support employees of the Jefferson Union High School District. Currently the median cost to purchase a home in San Mateo County is about two million dollars. The new rental housing is being offered to employees at 50 percent of the market rate at the time of occupancy.