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Task force recommends leadership committee, surveys and feasibility studies for educator housing
Summary
A district task force recommended forming a Workforce Housing leadership committee, commissioning staff housing surveys, pursuing feasibility/architectural studies, creating a communications plan, and exploring bond counsel — with trustees urging early public engagement and polling.
The San Mateo-Foster City School District’s educator-housing task force presented seven recommendations to the board, including a phased work plan to assess and pursue district-supported educator housing.
Task force representatives recommended the board direct staff to convene a Workforce Housing leadership committee (no more than nine members), contract a firm within 30 days to develop an employee housing-interest survey (to quantify staff needs and preferences), draft a board resolution within 60 days to publicly express the board’s interest, and prepare a communications strategy and feasibility/architectural studies within 90 days. The group also recommended evaluating bond counsel to analyze whether a bond would be an appropriate funding vehicle.
Board members discussed candidate sites and constraints. The task force focused on two district properties for initial study (Chess Drive and the NES site); trustees noted other district parcels (for example, Bayside) are subject to an existing agreement with the city through 2040 and would complicate immediate development. Trustees also flagged climate and flood‑risk concerns for waterfront parcels and urged careful consideration of site selection.
Several trustees urged the district to sequence the work so survey results from employees are available before the board adopts a resolution or embarks on heavy public campaigning. Trustees also asked that any bond planning include polling to test voter sentiment and that communications begin early to meet community questions head‑on rather than presenting a fully formed plan.
Task force members and trustees said the next steps are to present a recommended leadership-committee composition, finalize a survey instrument (potentially with a vetting subcommittee that includes union representatives), and return to the board in January with more detailed materials and a proposed public engagement calendar.
