BRADENTON, Fla. — The School District of Manatee County is looking into building workforce housing for its teachers and staff.

What You Need To Know

  • The Manatee County School Board met with a local developer that specializes in workforce housing

  • Members said the rental units would be available to teachers and staff for about 30% to 40% below market rate

  • Board is considering building two four-story buildings with apartments on land the district already owns that's adjacent to the Professional Support Center in Bradenton

The Manatee County School Board is currently exploring the idea, saying preliminary results from a survey show there is interest. The idea is to help teachers and staff who are struggling to afford a place to live

The board has met with a local developer that specializes in workforce housing. They say the rental units would be available to teachers and staff for about 30% to 40% below market rate.

“In today’s workforce, retaining and recruiting our quality teachers and quality staff is of the utmost importance,” said School District of Manatee County executive director of administration Kevin Chapman.

Chapman said that’s what affordable workforce housing can do, and it’s the reason so many school districts across the state are considering it.

“I think most school districts are exploring the idea, as you take a parcel of land and there’s a few acres left that a school doesn’t really fit on there, that this could be an idea using workforce housing,” he said.

The School District of Manatee County is considering building two four-story buildings with apartments on land the district already owns. Board members met with a local developer, One Stop Housing, that specializes in these type of projects, and they’re in the process of surveying employees now.

“We have over 6,000 employees here, we’re the largest employer in Manatee County, so we wanted to see if our employees were interested in a one-bedroom, a studio, three-bedroom type of apartment — what would rent need to be?” Chapman said.

One Stop Housing converted a Bradenton motel into affordable apartments, and has plans to build additional workforce housing on that site, too.  Chapman said by providing teachers with a housing option, Manatee County will be able to attract the best and brightest, which would ultimately benefit students.

“The School District of Manatee County has one of the highest starting salaries for teachers in the Tampa Bay area," he said. "And if you add an opportunity for workforce housing to that competitive salary, I think that really puts us at a place where teachers and other staff would want to come here and work."

The survey has been open for less than one month, and Chapman said more than 1,000 employees have already completed it, so the interest seems to be there.