Davis Joint Unified School District joins cohort to address housing affordability for educators

As part of a new effort to address housing concerns for their employees, Davis Joint Unified School District joined an initiative focused on the development of affordable workforce housing

By ALYSSA TORRES  — city@theaggie.org

On Nov. 1, the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) announced its selection as a participant in the Education Workforce Housing Cohort, a program led by the California School Boards Association (CSBA). This cohort supports California school districts in creating below-market-rate housing options for employees, addressing an urgent need for affordable housing in the education sector.

DJUSD has been working to assess housing solutions for its educators in a community where costs are rising and student enrollment is declining. The average rent for all units in Davis reached $2,372 per month, a 6.6% increase from 2022, according to the 2023 Apartment Vacancy and Rental Rate Survey. As one of the largest employers in Davis, DJUSD has struggled to retain staff due to the high cost of living.

Victor Lagunes, a teacher at Da Vinci Charter Academy Junior High School and president of the Davis Teachers Association, discussed this problem.

“Very close neighboring areas offer more, either because their benefits are covered more or the actual salary is higher,” Lagunes said. “When you think of what makes really strong communities, you build the best community when you have the educators that teach at schools living in that community.”

Maria Clayton, DJUSD’s chief strategy officer, shared her hopes for the initiative’s impact on retention.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to have the funding to sustain all of the priorities of programs and compensation,” Clayton said. “Helping teachers and staff find housing would be another way that would make our district attractive to future and current employees.”

In a survey conducted by DJUSD in May, 40% of respondents reported having moved due to increasing housing costs during their employment, and 76% expressed interest in affordable workforce housing options provided through the district.

Following these survey results, the DJUSD Board of Education approved a resolution on Aug. 15, 2024, supporting the DJUSD Workforce Housing Plan. This led to the district’s application to the Workforce Housing Cohort.

As part of the cohort, DJUSD will participate in workshops and tours of successful workforce housing projects organized by CSBA.

“We are going to learn a lot in a very practical setting,” Clayton said.

Both Lagunes and Clayton emphasized the importance of involving the community throughout the project.

“It is a community-wide conversation, for sure,” Clayton said. “Any kind of housing development is something that affects a lot of people.”

Lagunes also stressed the need for a comprehensive understanding of educators’ needs to ensure the initiative’s success.

“You have to do the work of engaging with [educators] to find out what are the things that are going to be most effective,” Lagunes said. “What I mean is, what are the reasons that people left?”

Workforce housing initiatives are gaining momentum across California. CSBA’s Education Workforce Housing Handbook states that 83 sites owned by educational agencies are already under consideration for workforce housing development. Several Southern California districts, such as those in Santa Clara and Los Angeles, have implemented education workforce housing with positive impacts on job retention and satisfaction.

While DJUSD is committed to progressing on workforce housing, Clayton acknowledged the project will take time.

“I think you’ll see from DJUSD probably some short-term solutions in the next year or so, and then something more long-term that will have more of an impact,” Clayton said. “But it’s going to depend on what we learn and what gets decided by the board”.

When asked about the broader significance of workforce housing, Lagunes responded.

“Everyone deserves a place to live,” Lagunes said. “For educators, we believe that the way to build community is for them to have the ability, if they so choose, to live in the community in which they teach. We also believe that any community has to be able to welcome families that want to be there in order to join their school systems. Addressing housing, even through workforce housing as a small piece of it, is critical to doing that.”

Written by: Alyssa Torres— city@theaggie.org