Maui campus housing pilot program, other educator housing bills also moving ahead

The powerful Hawaiʻi Senate Ways and Means Committee unanimously voted Wednesday to pass a bill that would fund teacher workforce housing at certain Nānākuli, Waipahu, and Mililani schools on Oʻahu.

Senate Bill 941 authorizes the School Facilities Authority (SFA) to partner with public and private agencies to develop teacher and educator housing at Nānākuli High & Intermediate School, Waipahu High School, and Mililani High School as initial locations for the teacher and educator housing pilot.

The committee proposed $185 million in total to finance the teacher housing projects broken up into three locations:

  • $65 million for Mililani High School
  • $60 million for Waipahu High School
  • $60 million for Nānākuli High & Intermediate School

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz (D, Mililani Mauka, Waipi‘o Acres, Wheeler, Wahiawā, Whitmore Village) noted that the appropriation would be amended “to allow for housing and classroom construction where applicable.”

In his written testimony in support of the bill, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “Authorizing the SFA to partner with public and private agencies to develop teacher and educator housing could help alleviate the financial burden of housing felt by so many of our public teachers.”

Affordable options for teacher housing are “one key strategy for the recruiting and retaining of teachers, particularly given that Hawai’i’s teacher salaries continue to trail the nation when adjusted for cost of living. Housing is a big portion of each teacher’s paycheck,” Tui added.

In written testimony, the SFA said that the Legislature has “acknowledged that housing our educators has the dual opportunity of addressing our lack of affordable housing and our chronic teacher shortage in one project.”

Maui teacher housing bill passes, other educator housing bills move through Legislature

During a Senate Ways and Means Committee meeting Tuesday, lawmakers also passed Senate Bill 1596, which establishes and appropriates money for a Maui campus housing pilot program, to be administered by the School Facilities Authority. It would make on-campus housing available to employees at Lahainaluna and Kūlanihākoʻi high schools on the island of Maui. Lawmakers have not set aside a specific dollar amount in the Maui bill yet, because sometimes those specific decisions aren’t made until late in the legislative session, which is scheduled to end May 4.

The HSTA’s Tui said in his written testimony that “We have had teachers, born and raised in Maui, who have been forced to relocate to the continent for work because they simply could not find affordable housing on Maui, or elsewhere in the islands.

“A campus housing pilot program on Maui may assist teachers in attaining sustainable and stable residency, while staving off crushing debt burdens. Implementing and tracking the progress of the pilot program could point the way to more permanent affordable housing solutions for teachers in the future. It would also make the teaching profession more attractive by decreasing travel times and increasing educators’ ability to find affordable housing that won’t take their whole paycheck,” Tui said.

The bill passed with amendments and committee members approved it unanimously.

Several other teacher housing bills are moving through the Legislature this year:

  • House Bill 497: Would require the School Facilities Authority to conduct a feasibility study for the development of teacher and workforce housing at the Queen Liliʻuokalani Elementary School property in Kaimukī, Oʻahu.
  • House Bill 1117: Authorizes the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation (HHFDC) to assist the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education in developing teacher housing projects and contract or sponsor a development housing project with any state department or agency.