Santa Clara Grand Jury: Teacher Housing Program Mismanaged
A scathing grand jury report criticizes the Santa Clara Unified School District for mismanaging the district's innovative teacher housing program, noting that at least a third of the teacher loans were delinquent.
The program has been seen as a national model to help educators live where they work, especially in expensive Silicon Valley.
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"As everyone who lives in the area knows, it's hard to afford a house in the area, and it helped me save money and stay here as long as I have," said Casey Nissan, who was one of the first teachers to take advantage of the program.
Now, a Santa Clara Grand Jury says the innovative fund has a lack of oversight, finding that a third of the loans to teachers were delinquent, and the fund director was granted a loan himself, even though he's not a teacher.
District Spokeswoman Tabitha Kappeler-Hurley says they have taken steps to correct the situation, including renegotiating some of the loans.
"Some people have paid it back if they were able to do so," said Kappeler-Hurley. "We've done a lot of different things. Our goal is to be humane with the folks who have loans."
She says they have suspended the program for a few months for restructuring.
