On September 30th the Board met to engage the community in a conversation about building workforce housing on school district property. For the past two years, the board has explored our community's desire to leverage district land to expand housing opportunities for families that live and work in the community.
From March - June, the district worked with county officials to learn more about land use requirements as it relates to the feasibility of building housing on school district property.
In June 2021, I presented preliminary findings of a feasibility process exposing potential obstacles to this idea:
Lack of adequate funding to build a new elementary school
Education Code regulations restricting the district’s ability to surplus land
In response to these findings, the Board requested a meeting to hear community sentiment to inform decision making around next steps. Over 40 community members attended this meeting and shared their views. The board will balance the community’s need and desire for affordable housing with the following shared concerns prior to making any further decisions:
Educational and social emotional impact of merging the elementary school with the middle and high school
District capacity to manage a housing program. “Should the district be in the housing business?”
Lack of infrastructure (water, sewage) to support additional units on North Street
Communication plan with parents as well as the wider community impacted by this project
The Board will continue this conversation at their regularly scheduled meeting on October 14, 2021.