By Tamie Meck
Staff Writer
April 13, 2001
Josh Kirk is an eager educator. Fresh out of college, he was offered a position teaching algebra at Roaring Fork High School for the 2000-01 school year when he attended a job fair at Colorado State University. He eagerly accepted.
"I knew that it would be expensive" to live in the Roaring Fork Valley, said Kirk, who moved to Colorado from Columbus, Ohio. That fact is clearly stated in the packet given to all prospective new teachers, he said, "But I guess I didn’t know it would be that expensive."
Like so many people in the area, Kirk lives from paycheck to paycheck, and faces the cold hard fact that his single income might not keep up with the high and rising housing costs in the valley.
For now, though, he rents a house with wood-burning heat, located about 30 minutes from work.
Kirk is one of seven full-time and one half-time teachers RFHS hired last year, according to principal Wendy Moore. There are 22 teachers on the staff. "It’s difficult when you spend one-third of the school year trying to replace people," said Moore, who added that the situation makes it difficult to offer consistency in the student education.
Early in the year, the new teachers began discussing their common housing dilemmas. They wanted to know just how wide-spread the problem is throughout the district, what affects high turnovers have on students and the quality of their education, and what possible solutions exist.
"I’ve seen firsthand what turnover does to schools," Kirk told members of the RE-1 School District’s education board Wednesday night. The teachers want to inform the community of what a critical problem high teacher turnover can create for students, and to ask the board and the community for long- and short-term solutions. "We want it to become a public issue," he said.
The group of teachers formally met in February to draft the Roaring Fork School District Employee Housing Survey. The survey was sent to all teachers and staff within the district, which covers Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs.
Kirk presented the board with the results of that survey at the meeting.
The survey contains 39 questions about housing situations, income, miles commuted to work, and job satisfaction. Of the 403 who responded, 230 own their own home and 67 rent; 192 live in single-family homes; 234 are satisfied to very satisfied with their housing situation, and 70 are not; and 90 make less than $30,000 per year. Housing was seen as a moderate to critical need by 166, while 104 see housing as a minor problem or not a problem at all.
There are 88 who say they don’t know how long they will remain employed with the district, and the same number feels that the district should be involved in obtaining employee housing. Fifty-two indicated that housing costs will impact their decision to stay with the district or seek work where housing is more in line with pay, and 40 said they would live in housing if the district provided it.
Board members were quick to point out that the district is in no position financially to subsidize housing or purchase land to build housing units, but board members expressed concern and support for the teachers, and agreed to work toward positive solutions, including taking the survey results to local governments.
The survey is very timely, considering that filling affordable housing needs are a top priority for local governments. Colin Laird, director of Healthy Mountain Communities (HMC), said Garfield County currently has affordable housing requirements. Any development which comes to the county for a change in density is required to dedicate 10 percent of housing as affordable as part of their approval.
Glenwood Springs City Council and the Carbondale Town Board are in the early stages of developing ordinances which would require up to 20 percent of newly constructed houses be in the "affordable" range, which generally, according to the report, means that a household would put no more than 30 percent of their gross income toward housing. Just how ordinances would read and who would qualify for affordable units hasn’t been determined. Laird said that it could be as early as this month for those governments to take their plans to the stage of public process, and that "it wouldn’t hurt" for the school district to present their survey, comments and suggestions.
Aspen, Pitkin County and Basalt already have programs in place, but high housing prices have been a problem upvalley for a longer period of time. It’s only been in the last decade or so that housing costs have surged downvalley.
HMC created the Regional Affordable Housing Initiative report in January, 2000, which shows that the median price for single family homes in the unincorporated Glenwood/Carbondale area was $294,000 in 1998; $216,750 in Carbondale; and $208,000 in Glenwood Springs. The more affordable condominium sold for $143,500 in Carbondale, $151,750 in Glenwood, and $196,500 in unincorporated. The surge in prices began in 1992-1993.
Laird didn’t have updated costs readily available, but said it’s safe to assume that these numbers have risen since the report was released in January 2000.
Rental costs aren’t much brighter. In the April 12 Post Independent classifieds, a room in a shared unit in Carbondale went from $450 to $600 per month; in Glenwood Springs, one-bedroom units start at about $705 per month, a 2-bedroom, 1-bath in downtown is available for $900 plus utilities, a three-bedroom condo rents for $1,300 plus utilities, and a 4-bedroom on two acres is available for $1,800.
Board members lauded Kirk for his initiative and effort, and offered to help pursue several options, including seeking low-interest loans and mortgage programs that offer low down payments. But with housing costs so high and interest rates coming down, at least temporarily, most homes would still be out of range for most teachers.
Kirk suggested as a short-term solution asking the community for help in the form of lower rent for teachers, help from Realtors, and the possibility of creative financing from mortgage lenders.
"Obviously, this a huge problem, it’s a long-term problem that needs a long-term solution," he said.
"I’ve really developed a great rapport with my students, and I’d like to know that I’m going to be here for a long time," said Kirk, who plans to implement a new, interactive math program, or IMP, at RFHS beginning in fall 2001. The IMP is a four-year program, and you need consistency. I can’t imagine bringing in a new teacher every year," said Kirk, who promises he will stay at RFHS at least one more year, to implement the program, and hopefully will remain to see the IMP through. "I’m an idealist," he said, "and I think something’s going to happen."