School District Opens Housing for Teachers, Staff

The Northern California development was supported by a voter-approved bond.

By Donna Kimura

*705 Serramonte features 122 apartment homes, with 59 one-, 56 two-, and seven three-bedroom units, with rental rates set at 50% of market rate at the time of occupancy.*

SVA Architects

Located in the pricey San Francisco Bay Area housing market and faced with a roughly 25% staff turnover rate, leaders at the Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) decided they needed to take bold action—they became housing developers.

They recently opened a 122-unit workforce housing community in Daly City, just south of San Francisco.

705 Serramonte is home to a mix of JUHSD employees. Approximately 60% of the residents are certificated staff, such as teachers, counselors, and school psychologists, and about 40% of the residents are classified staff, such as bus and van drivers, custodians, food service workers, and office staff.

The new development gives district employees a place to live with rents starting at $1,356 per month in a city where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is about $2,113 a month, according to Zumper.

“JUHSD’s creation of 705 Serramonte came from the necessity to retain and recruit excellent staff dedicated to serving the students of this community,” says Tina Van Raaphorst, deputy superintendent. “Though staff truly enjoyed working for this district, they could not afford to stay in the area to do so.”