Oakland Unified is eyeing its vacant properties for affordable housing

Exploring the Potential of Oakland Unified School District’s Vacant Properties for Affordable Housing

With housing costs rising, a significant increase in the number of homeless students and families in Oakland, and a teacher retention crisis, Oakland Unified School District officials are exploring whether the district’s vacant properties can be turned into affordable and workforce housing for district employees.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Emphasis:

• SDG 1: No Poverty
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

More school districts, especially in the Bay Area, have been breaking ground on similar housing projects. The longest-running project is in Santa Clara Unified School District, which opened its Casa Del Maestro apartment complex in 2001, offering teachers deeply discounted housing for up to seven years. More recently, San Francisco, Daly City, and Palo Alto school districts have broken ground on or completed housing projects that aim to provide educators with subsidized housing in an effort to retain them.

Two years ago, the OUSD board approved agreements for the former Tilden Child Development Center and the shuttered Edward Shands Adult School, two long-vacant properties, to be converted into housing and multi-use developments. The projects have yet to break ground. Since then, a preliminary permit application has been filed for the Tilden property to develop one, two, and three bedroom units, along with retail and parking spaces. The leases that the school board approved in 2021 stipulated that half of the residential units would be rented to OUSD workers.

Developing a Process for Repurposing Vacant Properties

But there’s a desire among school district officials to develop a better process for identifying unused properties that can be developed into housing.

Last month, the school board’s facilities committee, composed of directors Sam Davis, Valarie Bachelor, and Clifford Thompson, unanimously approved a resolution directing district staff to put together a policy on repurposing vacant properties, with an eye toward building affordable housing for homeless youth and their families and the district’s workforce.

Next, the resolution will go to the full school board.

Community Engagement and Collaboration

For these kinds of projects to be successful, school districts must start by discussing potential options with the community and other stakeholders, said Troy Flint, the communications director for the California School Boards Association. Last year, the state school board association collaborated with UC Berkeley’s Terner Center, Center for Cities & Schools, and UCLA’s Citylab to publish a report examining school districts around the state and their efforts to build workforce housing. CSBA also hosts a workshop for districts that are interested in developing housing on their properties.

“It’s not something to be taken lightly, so there needs to be a substantial exploratory process and community engagement and alignment between the governing board of a local education agency, the unions, other stakeholders in the school district, and potentially municipal or county partners,” Flint told The Oaklandside. “Financing is a potential barrier. There are political considerations—some people object to the repurposing of school district property for housing. There’s always a question of which site to choose, what the impact will be on the neighborhood, and whether the neighborhood is receptive to the idea.”

Those conversations are just getting started in Oakland. At this week’s town hall organized by Davis and Brouhard, housing advocates and public officials discussed how affordable housing could be built on OUSD properties.

Financing and Teacher Retention

Financing these kinds of projects is another hurdle. The CTE TAY Hub is mostly being supported with public funds, including a grant from the city of Oakland and OUSD bond funds. OUSD can currently tap into a $750 million facilities bond that voters approved in 2020 to upgrade OUSD schools.

When surveyed, Oakland teachers have said that housing affordability and the cost of living are the biggest factors contributing to their wanting to leave the district.

“California has a lot of challenges right now, but most of our problems are downstream from education and housing affordability,” Flint told The Oaklandside. “A cool aspect of education workforce housing is that it enables us to address two of the most significant hurdles we face as a state at the same time. And it carries benefits not just for the employees but for the students they serve as well.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular, the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and financial services, including microfinance.
• SDG 4.c: By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.
• SDG 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.
• SDG 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• The number of affordable housing units created for homeless students and families in Oakland Unified School District.
• The retention rate of teachers in Oakland Unified School District.
• The number of vacant properties repurposed for affordable and workforce housing.
• The level of community engagement and collaboration in the development of housing projects.
• The amount of public funding allocated to support housing projects on OUSD properties.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

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Source: oaklandside.org

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