Santa Cruz City Schools’ workforce housing project got unanimous approval from the city’s planning commission on Thursday. District officials say that the project is scheduled to go before the city council for a vote on March 11, paving the way for construction.
Workforce housing
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley Unified School District eyes workforce housing, arts complex after $315 million bond win
Pajaro Valley Unified School District is set to review plans on Wednesday to build teacher housing and a new performing arts center after voters approved a $315 million bond measure in November. The district will discuss two feasibility studies for an apartment complex that could be built at one of seven school sites, with costs ranging from $52 million to $87 million, alongside plans for a new performing arts center that could cost $24 million.
Posted inEducation
Dispute over seniors center helps sink Live Oak School District workforce housing bond
Live Oak School District’s $45 million bond measure appears headed for failure, in part due to a dispute with local seniors groups over plans to use the funds to demolish a district-owned seniors center to build housing for teachers and staff.
Posted inHousing & Development
California is giving schools more homework: Build housing for teachers
Some California agencies are offering incentives and hosting workshops for school districts that want to build affordable housing for teachers.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Teachers like me need affordable housing now – 2027 is too late
Middle school science teacher Christy Fairbairn loves her job and wants to stay in Santa Cruz County, but she and her husband, an ecologist, can’t afford the high rents. Too many fantastic teachers and staff, she writes, are leaving our community because of the high cost of living. To keep our schools thriving, she says teachers and school staff need workplace housing now.
Posted inEducation
Santa Cruz County school districts ramp up plans to build teacher, staff housing
As school districts face challenges retaining staff and teachers due to the rising cost of living in Santa Cruz County, they’re also trying to push forward one potential solution: building and renting out their own workforce housing at below-market rates. Santa Cruz City Schools hopes to have workforce move into a development by 2027.
Posted inK-12 Education
Live Oak School District, seniors services clash over ‘illegal’ requirement to support teacher housing bond
Negotiations between Live Oak School District and two local seniors organizations renting a district-owned property have hit a roadblock over the district’s requirement that the organizations publicly endorse a bond measure for teacher housing as part of the lease agreement. Community Bridges, which runs Meals on Wheels out of the building, has called the demand illegal and a violation of the California Education Code. The district says the requirement is a response to comments by Community Bridges staff that they would campaign against the bond unless the district agreed to the organization’s lease terms.
Posted inK-12 Education
Live Oak School District extends Meals on Wheels, Senior Network Services eviction to Aug. 30
During their regular board meeting Wednesday evening, Live Oak School District’s board approved extending eviction notices for the seniors services from June 30 to August 30 while the board finalizes a potential updated lease agreement. The district is aiming to build between 60 to 70 housing units on the nearly two-acre site across the street from Live Oak Elementary School, but Meals on Wheels says it has struggled to find a new location.
Posted inK-12 Education
Pajaro Valley Unified School District in talks for property purchase for workforce housing
As workforce housing rises to the fore in the area’s affordability crisis, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board considered the purchase of housing in a closed session Wednesday. It could join the Santa Cruz City Schools district, which is moving to build such housing, and the Live Oak School District, which is in the early stages of planning.
Posted inK-12 Education
‘This will be a game-changer’: Live Oak School District in very early planning stages for workforce housing
A 2-acre site at 1777 Capitola Road could be turned into 60 to 70 units to house Live Oak School District workers. Officials are mulling a 2024 bond measure, and a district committee also aims to explore ways to include two community organizations now headquartered at the site in the development.