With skyrocketing housing prices in the Bay Area, teachers at Aragon face difficulty in the search for affordable housing near campus. The San Mateo Union High School District, at its January board meeting, shared a presentation about how they aim to alleviate this problem. It stated, “A teacher’s salary per year is $77,879 … as of December, an average one bedroom apartment in San Mateo rents for $30,984 annually.” A board meeting will be held in the next few months to discuss a plan to help teachers by building affordable employee housing near Mills High School.
On Jan. 31, the board centered their meeting on this project, calling it the “Workforce Housing Project.” The board formulated a plan that will benefit teachers for the long run since they save money with cheaper and closer housing. The Workforce Housing Project presentation explains, “[The] proposed employee housing project is anticipated to be composed of approximately 140 units for one, two or three bedroom apartments. Targeted rent rates would be substantially less than market rates, allowing employees to save for a down payment on a home.”
Because of a longer commute, some teachers need to plan ahead of time to ensure that they arrive at school on time. Spanish teacher Jaime Prado lives in the East Bay. He says, “I leave early from home because of the bridge, and it’s cushion time just in case something bad happens on the bridge, which can be an extra half hour delay, and I can’t be late for work.”
Budgeting is key when commuting to work; a lot of money is used towards transportation. History teacher Courtney Caldwell lives in Sunnyvale, and says, “I do need [to] budget a lot more for gas and also for rent as it is rising everywhere. I love working here so I wouldn’t change it … it’s so hard to find a place that is affordable near here.”
Caldwell also adds, “I would absolutely be interested in [employee housing] in the Bay Area, housing prices are obviously one of the biggest problems. I’m still young and I have my car payment and college loans, so having a way that would make living here affordable would be better.”
Long commutes to school for teachers become a possible cause of faculty scarcity. Math teacher Rafael Montelongo, who lives in San Francisco, found that the scarcity of teachers is due to the few residents of this profession in the Bay Area. He says, “A lot of districts in the Bay Area are thinking about employee housing because … we have a shortage of teachers, and it’s just going to get worse because less people are in the profession.”
Montelongo also adds about the plan, “I wouldn’t do it if I’m not saving more than I am right now. Also, I like where I live.”
The district board has created multiple plans for them to predict the budget of building employee housing near various schools in the district: The first option is 143 units, costing $53,757,450; the second is 149 units, costing $48,418,933; the last is 126 units, costing $44,534,055.
This proposal is still in the exploration stage, but will be further discussed by the board members, including the discussion of community outreach events to find funding for the possible housing project.
