As Arizona grapples with a rising affordable housing crisis and empty classrooms due to declining student enrollment, a new proposal aims to address both concerns with an innovative solution. State Senator John Kavanagh has introduced Senate Bill 1080, a bill that would allow school districts to partner with private developers to transform unused educational facilities into affordable housing units, specifically for teachers and other essential workers. Kavanagh's move seeks to simultaneously generate revenue for schools and provide workforce housing for critical roles within the community.
Under the proposed legislation, districts would have the option to either convert existing structures or demolish them, to make way for new housing developments. "You have a lot of districts with empty school buildings just sitting there. This comes at a time when we have an affordable housing crisis,” Kavanagh said, in a statement obtained by ABC15. The bill stipulates that these partnerships would need to gain a two-thirds majority approval from the governing board and adhere to local zoning laws, to ensure compatibility with existing neighborhoods.
The model has already seen some success in Globe, Arizona, where a closed school was repurposed into an affordable housing complex for seniors. However, the new bill would expand this concept, allowing for direct public-private partnerships for such projects. Mark Stapp, ASU Director of the Master's in Real Estate Development, expressed approval for the idea but cautioned about the potential complexities involved in such conversions, such as adapting various systems to meet residential code requirements, as reported by ABC15.
While the bill has attracted some support for its creative approach, not all are convinced of its necessity. Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, argued that school districts already possess the ability to sell or lease land for similar purposes and questioned the true motive of the bill. According to a azfamily.com interview, Garcia suggested that the real issue at hand is low teacher salaries: “You are working with the same people that you’re living with. It is not conducive to a work-life balance all of us are reaching for.” She advocated for addressing the root of the problem by raising teacher pay rather than providing subsidized housing.
