Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Educator Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
San Francisco school board adopts resolution to pursue at least 550 units of educator housing
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Education unanimously adopted an amended resolution directing staff to pursue development of district property and partnerships to expand affordable housing for educators and related staff, setting a districtwide floor of at least 550 educator units and requesting a March 2020 report back on financing and sites.
The San Francisco Board of Education on Jan. 14 adopted a resolution directing the district to pursue affordable housing for educators and related staff, establishing a districtwide floor of at least 550 dedicated educator housing units and asking staff to report back with a financing and implementation plan.
Commissioner Mark Maliga introduced the "educator affordable housing development policies" resolution and read the text into the record. The resolution frames the housing initiative as a response to rising local rents and teacher attrition, cites local support from Proposition E (which rezoned public lands to streamline educator housing), and points to the district's pilot project at the Francis Scott Key Annex. It requests that the superintendent and a housing working group return to the board by March 2020 with options for creative financing and next steps for identified district sites and for districtwide implementation.
The resolution was amended by substitute at the start of the meeting; staff and the author said the edits mainly clarified that the 550-unit goal is a districtwide floor (not limited to three identified sites), acknowledged the need to study non-educator employee housing needs, and made technical and timing clarifications before the board voted. The amended measure passed by unanimous voice/roll call vote.
Public comment was strongly in favor during the hearing. District employees, paraeducators and teachers described long commutes or moves out of the city because of housing costs. Community housing advocates and United Educators of San Francisco urged the board to use the district's surplus property and available city funding to create permanent, affordable homes for a range of SFUSD employees. Several speakers highlighted that the district and city had new financing opportunities following November ballot measures (including a city bond allocation noted in the resolution) and urged rapid action.
Board members asked staff about the basis for the 550-unit figure and the feasibility of a March report-back. District staff said the 550-unit floor was developed from a mix of survey data, existing facility inventories and demand estimates and that the March deliverable would be a work plan and financing options rather than a completed development plan. Staff also noted the district will explore a mix of near-term measures (rental subsidy programs and partnerships) alongside longer-term, project-based development.
The resolution directs district leadership to develop parameters for potential projects, including a community engagement and resident-support strategy, and to seek partnerships with nonprofit affordable-housing developers and the mayor's office of housing and community development. It also instructs staff to analyze benefits available under Proposition E and other funding sources and to present clear options for the three inventory sites identified in the resolution as well as districtwide opportunities.
Next steps: staff will prepare a report for the board in March 2020 outlining financing options, timelines and next actions; the board’s adoption directs the superintendent to begin immediate work with a housing working group to pursue the stated goals.
