16 Sep WCCUSD Hopes if It Can Build Housing, Teachers Will Come

Unable to offer much in the way of financial support to teachers and potential hires, the WCCUSD hopes to entice educators with workforce housing. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Low salaries and other financial challenges have made it difficult for many schools to hire new teachers or keep the ones they have. So the West Contra Costa school board hopes to use housing to attract educators.

>>>From Our Archives: ‘We … Put Ourselves Last’: Former WCCUSD Teachers on Why They Left the Classroom<<<

On Wednesday, board members unanimously pledged to pursue the development of workforce housing for WCCUSD educators, hoping to ease the housing costs that they say have prevented educators from being able to live in the community they teach.

>>>From Our Archives: WCCUSD Teachers Call for Better Pay and Working Conditions<<<

“The West Contra Costa Unified School Board believes all students deserve the highest quality education,” the adopted resolution states, “which shall include attracting and retaining the best, brightest and most qualified teachers and support staff, despite the severe teacher/educator shortage.”

WCCUSD has struggled with teacher shortages for years because of district and state challenges, impacting student learning and resulting in a lawsuit that alleges students’ civil rights have been violated.

>>>Read: Teacher Recruitment Needs to Reflect ‘Who We Are as a District,’ WCCUSD Clerk Says<<<

The shortage is a “multilayer problem with varying solutions,” according to the board, that can be addressed by easing burdens, many of them financial, through assistance with student loans, hiring bonuses or paying for tuition.

For WCCUSD, which continues to fight off insolvency and must make more cuts to maintain local control of its finances, additional financial support for its educators is hard to come by. Future workforce housing in the district could be funded through Contra Costa County’s Measure X funds, a 20-year voter-approved sales tax that supports emergency services, community health centers and essential county services.

>>>Read: Teacher and Her Students Agree: Layoffs Not the Answer to WCCUSD Budget Woes<<<

Additional funding could come from other government sources, according to the resolution.

To research potential workforce housing locations, a team made up of district staff, which could include board members, Superintendent Kenneth “Chris” Hurst and facilities staff, is set to apply for the California School Boards Association’s 2025 Education Workforce Housing Workshop Series.

The workshop series offers educational agencies guidance on workforce housing and connects them with relevant partners.

“It’s not going to be easy; it’s a long process. It’s really going to be a long time,” said Trustee Leslie Reckler. This first step will “at least put a toe in the water” to begin the process.

New Student Trustees Join Board

With a new school year underway, the WCCUSD school board welcomed two new student trustees who will serve through the year’s first semester.

Lucas Wilson and Jorge Espinoza Jr. took over as student trustees at Wednesday’s meeting, succeeding Camillie Paucar and Lola Abdugapparov. Paucar and Abdugapparov finished their terms at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

Espinoza and Wilson are the first to begin their term under WCCUSD’s new student trustee policy, which pays a student trustee $500 a month.

Because the policy is retroactive to Jan. 1, Paucar and Abdugapparov are eligible for compensation, but the policy was just adopted in July.

WCUSD’s student trustee compensation policy is one of the few in the region and state to offer monetary payments in addition to mileage compensation and elective course credit.

In an effort to hear from a more diverse set of student voices, the new policy also requires that at least one of the sitting student trustees come from a school where 60% of the student body qualifies for the Free/Reduced Lunch Program. If this is not possible, the policy allows a student to be elected from a school with 40% eligibility.

The next West Contra Costa school board meeting is Sept. 25.