Lompoc Unified School District Pursuing Workforce Housing

The Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) is joining the statewide push to house educators, spurred by California’s skyrocketing housing costs and a national teacher shortage. 

On Tuesday, May 14, the LUSD Board of Trustees voted 5-0 to pursue workforce housing for employees in the district, which will potentially bring “100 or more below-market rental units” to its staff, the district said. 

Although the cost of living in Lompoc is comparatively lower than other California cities, it is still 15 percent higher than the national average, according to the Economic Research Institute. The average Lompoc rental goes for around $2,000 to $3,000 a month. 

According to district surveys, certificated employees (e.g., teachers) spend, on average, 34 percent of their income on housing. For classified staff (e.g. custodians), housing eats an average of 51 percent of their income. 

Nearly half of the 500-plus employees who responded to the district’s surveys indicated that the cost of housing negatively affects their ability to stay at LUSD, while others said they have considered leaving the district due to high housing costs, according to board president Franky Caldeira. Twenty percent said they have to make long and costly commutes to work.

“I know firsthand how challenging it has been for many of our employees to find affordable housing,” Caldeira added. “Our decision to move forward with [education workforce housing] is an important initial step in the process with many more important decisions ahead of us.”

The decision comes at a time when cities countywide are scrambling to meet state housing requirements. Last year, Lompoc adopted its Housing Element update, which plans to accommodate 2,248 new housing units — with 428 units earmarked for low- or very-low-income households — by 2031.

Fifteen other California school districts are also currently under contracts or amid construction of workforce housing developments, including LUSD’s neighboring district, Santa Barbara Unified. 

Prior to the vote, LUSD conducted a “six-month exploration” into workforce housing “guided by experts from the California School Boards Association, UC Berkeley’s Center for Cities and Schools, and UCLA’s City Lab with support from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative.”

In December 2023, LUSD was selected, along with four other districts, to engage in an exploratory process to determine the need and initial feasibility of this housing for the district. 

“Various public-private partnerships for financing are currently being explored, with no general fund or general obligation bond dollars to be allocated or expended on the construction or maintenance of [workforce housing],” the district said.

“I’m so excited about this initiative,” said Lompoc Federation of Teachers president Skyler Petersen, a member of the district’s housing committee 

“To be clear, below-market housing does not mean substandard,” she continued. “This would be high-quality housing offered to our employees at rental rates that would meet a very real need to retain and attract the best employees possible — both certificated and classified — so that we can provide the high-quality education that our students deserve.”