Amended in Senate April 27, 2016

Amended in Senate April 19, 2016

Amended in Senate March 30, 2016

Senate Bill No. 1413

Introduced by Senator Leno

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chiu and Ting)

February 19, 2016

An act to add Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) to Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1413, as amended, Leno. School districts: employee housing.

Existing law establishes various housing and home loan programs throughout the state to help low-income families and other specified groups. Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district, when leasing a building for housing of school district employees, to lease the building for any period they deem necessary.

This bill would authorize a school district to establish and implement programs, as provided, that address the housing needs of teachers and school district employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
changes made by this act are necessary in order to provide
affordable housing opportunities to teachers and other school
district employees.

(b) California places a high value on our public education
system, and the stability of housing for school employees is critical
to the overall success and stability of each school in California.

(c) The supply of new preschool through grade 12 teachers in
California has hit a 12-year low, and enrollment in educator
preparation programs has dropped by more than 70 percent over
the last decade, and this shortage most impacts schools serving
more low-income and minority students.

(d) Demand for teachers and staff is projected to grow further
as school districts continue to recover from the recession and seek
to replace previously eliminated programs and positions. Districts
are also coping with attrition, which averages about 8 percent of
all teachers annually. This attrition includes inevitable retirements,
as fully one-third of California teachers are over 50 years of age
and 10 percent are over 60 years of age, but most attrition is due
to younger teachers leaving.

(e) A growing trend driving teacher turnover is the steadily
increasing cost of housing in certain markets. In addition to the
negative emotional and developmental impacts teacher turnover
has on students, the costs borne by school districts to recruit, hire,
and train new teachers each summer is immense. In San Francisco
alone, during the summer of 2015, the school district had to recruit,
hire, and train 700 new teachers. Many cited housing costs as the
reason why the teacher was leaving the school district.

(f) Students and the community at large are benefited by teachers
living in the community in which they practice their profession.
It ensures stability, community involvement, and stronger ties
between teachers, their students, and their families.

(g) By creating affordable housing options for teachers near or
on schoolsites, it also reduces vehicle miles traveled and time away
from teachers’ homes, thereby reducing or eliminating commute
time.

SEC. 2.  

Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) is added to
Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

 

PART 14.  Teacher Housing Act of 2016

 

53570.  

This part may be cited as the Teacher Housing Act of
2016.

53571.  

(a) The purpose of this begin delete article end delete begin insert part end insert is to facilitate the
acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of
affordable rental housing, for teachers and school district
employees to allow teachers or school district employees to access
and maintain housing stability.

(b) A program established under this part shall be restricted to
“teacher or school district employees.”

53572.  

As used in this part:

(a) “Affordable rental housing” means a rental housing
development, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 50675.2,
with rents restricted to levels that are affordable to persons and
families of low or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093,
but neither definition is restrictive to only projects with five or
more units.

(b) “Teacher or school district employee” means any person
employed by a unified school district maintaining prekindergarten,
transitional kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, an
elementary school district maintaining prekindergarten, transitional
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, or a high school district
maintaining grades 9 to 12, inclusive, including, but not limited
to, certificated and classified staff.

53573.  

A school district may establish and implement programs
that address the housing needs of teachers and school district
employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing.
To the extent feasible, the school district may establish and
implement programs that, among other things, do the following:

(a) Leverage federal, state, and local public, private, and
nonprofit programs and fiscal resources.

(b) Promote public and private partnerships.

(c) Foster innovative financing opportunities.

begin delete

(d) Dedicate school district-owned land to the development of
affordable rental housing and restrict occupancy to teachers and
school district employees.

end delete

53574.  

This part specifically creates a state policy supporting
housing for teachers and school district employees, as described
in Section 42(g)(9)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, and, further,
permits school districts and developers in receipt of local or state
funds designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy
to teachers and school district employees on land owned by school
districts, so long as that housing does not violate any other
applicable laws.