As housing costs continue to outpace educator salaries across the state, more local educational agencies have been looking at education workforce housing (EWH) as a strategy for retaining and recruiting staff. To meet growing interest in this solution, CSBA has invested in an EWH team to help its members explore how workforce housing might work in their communities and advance their plans and is excited to announce a complete resource pathway to support members at every phase of the EWH development process.
The two inaugural bootcamps — one in Santa Clara County and the other in Los Angeles County — are being held this month, and the first was hosted on Oct. 15. These one-day events bring together trustees, superintendents and senior staff to explore how districts can turn underused property into affordable housing for their employees. Several participants said that the training helped clarify the practical first steps their districts could take, such as identifying feasible sites, surveying their staff to gauge demand, finding technical and financial partners, and assessing community support. One trustee stated, “I left with a clear understanding of what board members can do at this early stage.” Seventy-eight percent of those who attended the first bootcamp said they were likely or very likely to continue exploring workforce housing within their LEAs.
LEAs that are actively advancing a workforce housing project are in Phase 2 of the process. For members at this stage, CSBA offers a 101 workshop series that offers a deeper level of support to advance their work, overcome early challenges, and develop the long-term tools and strategies that lead to successful projects. The workshop series consists of three in-person sessions where participants tour completed workforce housing sites, hear from a panel of the leaders who made the sites possible, and receive expert guidance on how to move their plans forward. Registration for the fourth cohort of the 101 workshop series will open in November; click on this link to receive notification.
Once LEAs have a clear plan, the next step is to commission a feasibility study — the formal diligence that administrators, stakeholders and potential investors use to make a “go” or “no-go” decision about a project. To help members in need of short-term funding to pay for these studies and other predevelopment costs, CSBA is establishing a predevelopment loan fund offering zero-interest loans to move projects forward without impacting general fund dollars. For LEAs looking to simply assess whether any of their existing properties are good candidates for workforce housing, CSBA’s Property Planning Solutions program offers preliminary feasibility analyses along with surplus site studies and other real estate services in partnership with DCG Strategies, a statewide leader in K-12 commercial real estate.
LEAs that decide to formally advance an EWH project can finance construction and development through CSBA’s Certificate of Participation (COP) program. COPs are widely considered the most cost-effective way to finance capital improvements, used by eight of nine completed projects studied by UCLA and UC Berkeley in 2025.
CSBA has also curated a list of firms with experience in the specific field of building housing for employees on LEA land on its website. The list is broken down into various service areas involved in EWH so LEAs can find the firm with the unique expertise needed, from community engagement, financing and development to architecture, construction and legal services.
The launch of the bootcamps ushers in CSBA’s new and comprehensive portfolio of supports for its members interested in EWH, no matter where they are in their housing journey. Visit the EWH webpage for details on all of these supports, or visit the EWH booth at the CSBA Pavilion during this year’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in Sacramento, Dec. 3-5.
