The Mountain View Whisman School District has begun rolling out applications for their staff housing program, which aims to provide affordable housing for its staff and city workers, according to Shelly Hausman, Mountain View Whisman School District’s Public Information Officer. 

Rising housing prices have been a prominent issue for many teachers living in the Bay Area. In Mountain View, the median home value is over $1,425,000, which makes it “difficult for our teachers and staff members to stay in the area, or [they] have to commute long distances to work here,” Hausman said. 

The average MVWSD staff salary is approximately $73,100 without benefits, and $98,300 with benefits, putting home ownership and renting in the area out of reach for many educators. Some in the MVWSD live as far away as Vallejo, taking up to two hours just for a daily commute to work.

In order to address this issue, the MVWSD has built a 123 unit apartment complex at 699, North Shoreline Boulevard, reserved only for MVWSD staff, and an additional 20 units for city workers, for rent between $1350-$3,400 per month depending on size, in contrast to an average market rental price of $2,055-$3,583 per month depending on size in Mountain View. The project for affordable housing started as far back as 2017, Hausman said. In 2020, Measure T passed with 69.5% of voters voting for the proposal, officially providing $88 million for the construction of an affordable housing development in Mountain View. Hausman said she hopes that with this measure, staff attrition and recruitment can be addressed.

With construction having ended in 2024, the district has begun taking applications for housing, Hausman said. Housing is available for district teachers and staff who meet the income requirements with priority given to full-time employees. 

MVWSD has already allocated approximately 30 apartments in the staff housing development, Hausman said. There are more employees who are in the process of scheduling their application appointments and gathering their documents and will soon confirm their apartments, and more than 80 employees attended open houses and meetings in January this year, she said. Teachers and staff will begin moving in at the end of February, she said.

“We want to make sure our high quality staff members can stay so we’re not continually hiring new staff, whether that’s through attrition or retirements,” Hausman said. “People are leaving the profession, so it’s important that we are able to compete with other districts, because we have this additional benefit to employees that they have below market rate rents if they live in this community.”

The housing community offers a wide array of amenities including working spaces, craft rooms, a game room, lounge, culinary space, fitness centers, pool, and park access, according to the MVWSD website.

“For a lot of folks, it’ll be a very significant thing for them, where they feel like they’re included in the community,” Hausman said.“Teachers will be able to see their students at games and at the grocery store. It’s just going to be really gratifying for everybody who’s worked on the project.”