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School Views: A community effort to create housing

Philp Qualman
Valley Voices
Philip Qualman

In April 2020, Eagle County School District released a 10-year Housing Master Plan. In it, we outlined a goal of creating 120 housing opportunities for district employees and facilitating housing opportunities through partnerships, programs, and connecting employees with existing resources.

We are making great progress toward achieving that goal by 2030, however, the pandemic and subsequent escalation in housing costs necessitated revisiting the original plan. We are currently working to revise the plan and adjust the goal to better reflect the market realities of a post-pandemic world.

One of our successes is the Grace Avenue Habitat for Humanity project. Completed in 2020, it houses six district families with an additional six constructed in 2021 for other Eagle County families.



Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley is now focused on the 3rd Street Housing Project directly adjacent to Eagle Valley Middle School. This parcel will see the development of eight duplexes. Of those 16 total units, 12 are earmarked for district employees with the other four being sold to residents of Eagle County that qualify. That application process is online via the Habitat website and the groundbreaking is expected to take place in the Spring of 2023.

The Edwards Housing Project, a 37-unit apartment complex built by Eagle County School District and RA Nelson, will see a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental units. This exciting endeavor is already in the construction phase and a school district housing committee is determining eligibility criteria.

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These apartments will be solely rented to our educators and support staff. Eagle County School District was able to secure funding for this project through certificates of participation. These act similarly to a mortgage and will be paid off 100% through the rental income derived from the units. That means we were able to facilitate this build without the use of taxpayer dollars. This is a terrific model and we hope to replicate similar projects in the future in other parts of the county.

The final piece of the puzzle that we have been working on is to increase available rentals throughout Eagle County. After thinking about the number of properties that sit vacant, I reached out to every homeowner in Eagle County with a call to action. The response to my letter was overwhelming and we added over 100 rentals to the overall inventory. Admittedly, not all of the new rentals qualify as “affordable,” but increasing supply should have a positive impact on overall affordability.

Many of the current issues we face, from the housing crisis to staffing shortages, stem from a single problem: a broken K-12 funding system. If we truly want to see success in every arena of public education, we need to address the funding structure in our state. Colorado currently sits 48th in the country in per-pupil funding. We have to do better. If we can’t pay our educators a better wage, we will continue to see people leave the sector, which only hurts our kids.

I will continue to fight for increased wages for our entire staff. I will continue to have tough conversations with our state legislators in hopes of creating a better funding model. We will do everything in our power to fight for what we believe is right.

Philip Qualman is superintendent of Eagle County Schools. Email him at philip.qualman@eagleschools.net.


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