In response to surging interest across the state, CSBA is offering a new training opportunity to learn the basics about education workforce housing (EWH), a rapidly growing solution for local educational agencies in areas where the high cost or low supply of housing hinders their ability to retain and recruit staff.

By building on their own property and taking advantage of the Assembly Bill 2295 “fast lane” for development, LEAs can provide high-quality housing for their employees at below-market rents, allowing them to live near where they work and stemming high staff turnover. There are already 11 of these developments across the state, with dozens more being planned.

CSBA invites trustees, superintendents and senior LEA staff to attend one of two Education Workforce Housing Bootcamps this October.

Like any good bootcamp, attendees will get a one-day intensive course of training on the unique world of EWH that covers the basics of housing development and finance, answers initial questions about the challenges and opportunities with using existing property, and provides an action plan with concrete next steps for exploring EWH in their wider community.

The format features a mix of lecture and table talk discussions, as well as exercises using an early assessment workbook. Participants will gain a clearer understanding about how to build support for EWH in their communities, identify viable sites, find funding sources, determine employee demand and partner with the right experts and stakeholders to make a project successful. Attendees will walk away with a six-month roadmap and clear, actionable steps to bring their ideas to life.

There will be two regional opportunities to participate: the Northern California bootcamp on Oct. 15 at the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Southern California bootcamp at Covina-Valley Unified School District on Oct. 24. Registration costs $500 and includes materials, a follow-up roadmap and continental breakfast and lunch. Capacity at each bootcamp is limited, so register as soon as possible at csba.pub/ewh-bootcamp.

All CSBA members can access a statewide workforce housing resource library at csba.org/workforcehousing. This suite of materials on EWH includes projects and case studies, interactive maps showing where surplus school property is located and where projects are underway, training materials, templates, research and business partner offerings, as well as the Education Workforce Housing Handbook, which provides school boards, administrators and community members with an understanding of how housing gets built, strategies for overcoming challenges to building, and frameworks for ensuring housing meets the specific needs of each LEA.

The resource library also includes recordings and presentations from previous workshops, fact sheets on all EWH sites in the state, sample board resolutions and requests for proposals from LEAs that have successfully built workforce housing, and much more.