A CA school district is using bonds to build an affordable housing complex for staff

A California school district says it’s the first in the nation to use bonds to build affordable housing for its employees.

The Jefferson Union High School District broke ground Wednesday on the new housing units, the district said.

“The four story development will have 120 units offering below market rent to eligible faculty and staff,” the school district said on Facebook. “The first residents may move in as early as Fall 2021.”

Providing affordable housing for school staff using bonds to fund it is a new concept, KRON reported.

The district has been affected by a 20% staff turnover rate for years, school district teacher’s union president Monica Casey told KGO. Officials hope the additional perk of housing will help.

“We have a high turnover rate and are hoping ... what will happen with this project is that we can recruit more teachers and we can keep the teachers we have now,” Daly City’s Mayor Glenn Sylvester told KGO.

All “non-management staff” can apply to live within the units, the school district said. The housing will be offered below market rate.

“Today is a day of hope for all of our students,” Jefferson Union High School District Superintendent Terry Deloria told KRON. “For the three years that I’ve been here we’ve been struggling to find teachers and other staff to fill positions across all the schools in our district and our students deserve better.”

Editor’s note: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that the Jefferson district is the first in the nation to offer affordable housing to staff.

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 2:16 PM with the headline "A CA school district is using bonds to build an affordable housing complex for staff."