ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Leaders at Orange County Public Schools are trying to solve the issue of staff shortages by giving some of the district’s employees priority access to affordable housing.
School leaders have revealed staff shortages in the district are caused by “the rising cost of living in Central Florida outpacing wages,” school board documents show.
Florida Education Association data shows OCPS had 325 job vacancies at the beginning of the 2024 school year.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the school board approved an agreement with two downtown Orlando-area apartment complexes to have 20 units available for OCPS employees to apply for, according to school board documents.
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The school district has more than 25,000 employees, per its website.
Palm Gardens Orlando at 929 W. Colonial Drive and Colonial Gardens at 4919 W. Colonial Drive will each set aside 10 units. Both only offer studios or one bedroom and monthly rent ranges from $900 to $1,200 a month.
“This agreement does not guarantee OCPS employees will be awarded a rental unit. Owners will select the most qualified applicants from the priority access pool,” the agreement contract states.
This agreement comes at a time as the state continues to struggle with affordable housing shortages, a new University of Florida report reveals. The report states 29% of renters in Orange County are using more than 40% of their income on housing — experts typically suggest 30% of monthly income dedicated to that expense.
“Despite growth in the stock, a significant number of Floridians continue to face cost burdens, spending a large portion of their income on housing expenses. When families pay a large share of their income for housing, it’s harder to cover other critical costs such as food, transportation, and health care,” Anne Ray, a representative from the UF Housing Studies, said in a prepared statement.
To add on, according to the National Education Association — which is the labor union umbrella for teachers — the average teacher salary in Florida was $53,098 for the 2022-2023 school year, ranking 50th in the country and below the national average of $69,544.
Overall, Clinton McCracken, president of the union group Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, thanked the School Board for addressing this issue of the need for affordable housing, but he said it is not enough.
“This is not a housing problem, this is a teacher pay problem. Yes, part of the issue is Tallahassee, lack of sufficient investment in public education, but we also have a responsibility here in Orange County to prioritize teacher pay in our budget. Our educators should not have to take in roommates just to afford rent,” McCracken said during Tuesday’s board meeting.
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