What to do before you choose a path, whether your district builds and owns housing itself, buys existing homes, works with a nonprofit or foundation, leases land to a partner, or signs a master lease. These resources are free, model-neutral, and written for a superintendent or board member with an hour.
Turnover, commute distance, and staff housing cost. A 2017 Jefferson Union HSD staff poll found housing cost was the main reason a quarter of staff were leaving each year (San Francisco Chronicle).
What you own, what your state allows, and who has to approve. The 2022 California research mapped every district property in the state as a starting point (CSBA).
Capital, control, timeline, and risk for each path: building and owning with a bond, buying existing homes, a nonprofit or education foundation, a ground lease, or a master lease. The Learn guide and the Index show districts that took each one.
A credible study covers staff demand from your own survey, site and entitlement review, rental comparables, and a financial model under more than one interest-rate assumption. It should compare building it yourself with partnering, and it should not be written by anyone who stands to win the work.
Building it yourself means hiring designers and builders under your state's procurement rules and planning for long-term management. Partnering means RFP language, the same questions for every respondent, and terms that bind future boards. Lockhart ISD reported more than 18 months of planning before approving its partnership (Post-Register).
1. What is our annual turnover, and what does each departure cost us?
2. How far do staff commute, and how many live outside the district?
3. What do staff pay for housing today, from a survey and not an assumption?
4. What land do we own, and which parcels have no school on them?
5. What does our state allow a district to do with land and debt?
6. Who must approve: board, city, county, voters?
7. Do we want to build and own, buy existing homes, lease our land to a partner, or master-lease?
8. Which staff do we mean to house, and would an income cap exclude them?
9. How will rents be set, and who decides increases?
10. Who manages the property and handles maintenance?
11. What happens to the homes if the district exits or the partner fails?
12. Which projects in the Index most resemble ours, and what went wrong for them?
1. How will we pay for it: a voter bond, certificates of participation, reserves, or a state program?
2. Who will design and build it, and what procurement rules apply to us?
3. Will rents cover debt payments, operations, and a reserve for repairs?
4. Who will handle leasing and maintenance: district staff, a nonprofit, or a hired property manager?
5. Is it faster and cheaper to buy existing homes than to build new ones?
6. Which districts in the Index built or bought their own, and what would they do differently?
1. Where do you live (ZIP), and how long is your commute?
2. Do you rent or own?
3. What do you pay per month for housing?
4. What share of your take-home pay is that?
5. Have you considered leaving the district because of housing costs?
6. Would you consider district-affiliated housing?
7. What home type and bedroom count would you need?
8. What is the most you could pay per month?
Report results by role and years of service; the answers differ.
1. Who owns the land and the buildings at each stage, and at the end?
2. Who carries the construction and financing risk?
3. How are rents set, and what limits future increases?
4. Are there income caps, and what share of our staff would they exclude?
5. What is the term, and what are the exit provisions for the district?
6. What has this partner built for a district before, and can we call that district?
7. What does the district pay, directly or through a lease, over the full term?
8. Who manages the property and how are maintenance requests handled?
9. What happens to residents if the partner sells or defaults?
10. What will be public, and when?
The Education Workforce Housing Handbook (cityLAB, CCS, Terner Center, 2022) is written for school boards and administrators.
Read the handbook