MPUSD eyeing teacher housing near Seaside Middle School
SEASIDE, Calif. (KION) The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is facing a challenge with the recruitment and retention of teachers at their schools.
The superintendent tells KION they hire between 80 to 100 teachers every year because of turnover, representing about 20 percent of their workforce.
In exit interviews, teachers usually say they like working in the district and love the area, but that it is too expensive to afford living here with housing costs, health care and child care.
"We have a sense of urgency to try to address this problem, which really is a problem across California, particularly in coastal regions and high cost of living areas," said PK Diffenbaugh, the MPUSD superintendent.
For Rebekah Corbishley, a passion for teaching came later in her life. But two years into her first job at Seaside Middle School, she's loving every bit of it.
"I love it, it's great. It comes with… some days you don't know what you're going to get, but that's 7th grade for you," she said.
Corbishley is getting her master's degree and credentials right now. In order to afford that, she is living at home.
"The housing market is very expensive here," she said.
The district is now eyeing 11 acres of land near Seaside Middle School to build 40-60 multi-family unit housing at a reduced rental cost for teachers and their families.
The project could cost anywhere between $30 million to $60 million. The district is looking at placing a facilities bond on the November 2020 ballot for voters to approve, if the board moves forward with it. They have enough water to build housing on that land, according to the superintendent.
"It would benefit me a lot. It would be much more affordable to find housing," said Corbishley. "A lot of our teachers work multiple jobs, so I know that would be very helpful for them."
The district says it is not good to have high turnover rates because of the costs to train and on-board new teachers and because students need stability.
If the housing is successful, the district may look into other areas to build housing for teachers.
