Colorado Springs School District Proposes Teacher Housing Project on District Land

Colorado Springs School

Harrison School District 2 in Colorado Springs has unveiled plans to construct affordable housing for its employees. The proposed project involves building 20 duplexes, covering 352 square feet each, on a one-acre parcel at the district’s Mountain Vista Community School. The estimated cost of the project is $6 million, aiming to provide electrically powered homes with a monthly rent of $825. This initiative responds to the challenges faced by teachers in affording housing in Colorado Springs, where the average rent is $1,720 per month, and the average home price is $523,456, as reported by Forbes Advisor.

The construction is currently in the planning stages, and the timeline for groundbreaking and completion will depend on successful fundraising efforts. The project’s primary goal is to address the housing affordability crisis faced by educators in the district, making it easier for them to live and work in the community.

New teachers entering the district are confronted with the high cost of living in Colorado Springs, where housing expenses often exceed their salaries. The starting salary for new teachers in the Harrison School District 2 is $47,545, making it challenging for them to find affordable housing options. Mike Claudio, assistant superintendent of personnel support services, emphasized the difficulties faced by new teachers: “They ask, ‘Can I live in Colorado Springs?’ And I say you can, but you have to have a roommate or two or three to make a paycheck go as far as possible.”

The proposed duplexes aim to provide a solution to this problem by offering reasonably priced housing directly within the school district. The $825 monthly rent is significantly lower than the average rental cost in the area. However, the success of the project hinges on the effective execution of the $6 million plan, including securing funding for the construction.

Affordable housing initiatives for teachers have gained recognition and support in various regions. According to a 2022 EdWeek Research Center survey, 11% of teachers indicated that subsidized housing would make them more likely to remain in the teaching profession. The Harrison School District-2 project is noteworthy for being the first of its kind in the local area, taking a proactive step to address the housing challenges faced by its educators.

While this initiative is a pioneering effort for Colorado Springs, other school districts in different parts of the country have undertaken similar projects. School districts in California, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District, Santa Clara Unified School District, and Jefferson High School District, have previously constructed employee housing. Research conducted by the California School Boards Association, cityLAB, and the Center for Cities + Schools at the University of California, Berkeley in 2022 revealed that every county in California had an acre of developable land owned by an educational agency.

In summary, the Harrison School District 2’s affordable housing project is a promising step toward addressing the housing challenges faced by teachers in Colorado Springs. As the district progresses with its planning and fundraising efforts, the success of the initiative could serve as a model for other school districts grappling with similar issues nationwide.

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