Celia Jiménez here, thinking about new housing projects that are in various stages across Monterey County for teachers and staff of school districts.
For Soledad Unified School District, officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on May 9 for housing at 580 Monterey St., calling it “a critical milestone” for SUSD in a press release.
SUSD Superintendent Randy Bangs says the project took longer than expected but “once we did the ceremonial groundbreaking, work began at the site.”
The project has been in the works for years, and it was made possible after Soledad voters passed Measure N in 2020, a $13.75 million bond that was met with more than 60 percent in approval.
Other local school districts including Monterey Peninsula Unified and Salinas Union High have passed measures to build/provide workforce housing; the latter opened workforce housing, 50 units, on Abbott Street in 2023.
For North Monterey County Unified School District, the board of trustees recently voted to move forward with a study to determine the feasibility of workforce housing at the abandoned Moss Landing Middle School site. Expect to learn more about those plans in a future edition of the Weekly.
Bangs says the goal is to retain employees (the district has a 15-20 percent turnover every year). “By being able to live in the community that they serve, they establish a presence here, and they become part of the community,” Bangs adds.
At some point the City of Soledad and the district explored the idea of partnering to build housing for both of their staffs. But in the end, they each decided to make their own.
The city sold the 580 Monterey St. property to SUSD, and used the proceeds to buy a one-bedroom townhouse apartment at Las Viviendas. The city will expand the number of units at a later date.
For the district, the project is a two-story building with 20 units; 40 percent of them are two-bedroom apartments while the rest are one-bedrooms. “It was based upon survey data,” Bangs says, noting many staff that come to work at the district are recent graduates and young professionals who haven’t started a family yet.
If the project’s timeline goes as planned, it will be completed in the summer of next year.
One of the obstacles to attract and retain employees in the region, not just for school districts, is the lack of affordable housing. So it’s welcome news that school districts are offering, or plan to offer, below market rate housing opportunities for their staff.
I still wonder if this model will be successful in the long run and if it helps employees save money to afford a down payment for a future home, as well as reduce turnover rates. We will see.