State DOE plans to develop housing on land owned by school districts – The Vacaville Reporter

Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Education (California DOE)

The state Department of Education plans to get involved in the housing sector and help solve the chronic housing shortage that has become California’s most important economic, social and political problem.

That’s why state schools chief Tony Thurmond plans to launch a state plan to build millions of new homes on land owned by California school districts.

He will announce the plan at a 10 a.m. news conference Tuesday at DOE headquarters in Sacramento, where he will be joined by local and state leaders with experience building housing on land owned by school districts.

Following Tuesday’s press conference, Thurmond will convene a panel of housing experts for a housing summit on Aug. 14 to make policy recommendations that could boost housing construction across the state, including housing that meets the needs of lower-income families.

According to department officials, California school districts — also known as “local education agencies” in department terminology — own 75,000 acres of developable land, enough to create an estimated 2.3 million new homes in the state.

Recent data from the Regional Housing Needs Assessment show that California’s housing shortage could be addressed by building 2.5 million new homes, or an average of 300,000 units per year, over the next eight-year planning cycle.

“California’s housing crisis is undeniable, but not unsolvable,” Thurmond, the state superintendent of public instruction, said in a statement Monday announcing the news conference.

“We know that families across our state are being hurt, from the homelessness crisis facing our urban areas, to the long commutes affecting families who can’t live in affordable neighborhoods, to the staffing crisis in schools where teachers can’t afford to live where they work,” he added. “I believe California has the resources and ingenuity to solve this, and the data shows that California schools have the land to make it happen. As school leaders, we can do this for our communities and restore the California Dream.”

Headlines have described the crisis in recent years: The gap between housing supply and demand has widened, especially in urban areas, and it has hurt California’s economy by discouraging businesses. It also drives employers and workers to other states with more affordable housing, fueling poverty and homelessness.

The state budget showed that the number of permits for residential properties in 2023 fell 2.9 percent from 2022, to about 110,000 units allowed. However, it also predicted that the number of single-family homes would increase this year. However, the number of multifamily homes is expected to shrink 5.5 percent, the largest decline since 2020.