Colorado school board hears from developers on affordable housing for teachers

A real estate company is asking for the Douglas County School District's blessing to explore bringing affordable teacher housing to Meridian Village.

Shea Properties says the plan is still in the early stages.

The Meridian Village community is just west of Parker near Meridian Village Parkway and RidgeGate Parkway.

"There is a high need for this in the area. Housing is quite expensive. Average home price in Meridian Village is $720,000," said Eric Hecox, Shea Properties senior vice president.

In a board of education meeting last week, Shea Properties shared options for a vacant 9.33-acre parcel of land owned by Douglas County.

According to Shea Properties, the parcel in question is currently zoned to be either an elementary school, a fire station or a park. South Metro Fire has said it does not need the land, and, right now, it does not appear there are any plans to build an elementary school there.

DCSD could not share more about the elementary school site or whether an alternate one would be chosen, saying it is too early to comment on the plan.

Shea Properties would need to amend the Meridian Village planned development in order to develop the land as anything outside of the currently zoned uses.

The company is considering attempting to rezone the land to build either more homes, a retail center or rental housing to benefit school district employees.

Douglas County told CBS Colorado, "If an amendment to the Meridian PD is necessary, the scope of the proposed changes will determine whether the amendment will be processed administratively or if it will go to a public hearing of the Board of County Commissioners. The amendment process typically takes two to three months, although the complexity of a proposal can result in shorter or longer timelines for specific applications. The land is currently owned by Douglas County, and a transfer of the property to either DCSD or Shea would be necessary. A specific project proposal would be necessary for determining what that conveyance process would consist of and how long the process would take."

The county added, "Our understanding is that Shea's proposal is contingent on the school district making a determination that the site would not be necessary for an elementary school."

Early estimates from Shea suggest about 125 apartments could be built, with priority given to public school employees making less than $59,000 in a single-person household, less than $67,000 in a two-person household and less than $75,000 for a three-person family.

"A number of stars have aligned that make this a wonderful opportunity," Hecox said. "Last year, the state legislature passed a law that basically exempted a preference for public school employees from fair housing laws. We can offer a preference for that."

In response to questions from the school board, Shea representatives said public school employees would have first dibs on units, after which they may be rented to others. They added that, if someone's income increased after they move in or they no longer work for the district, they would be allowed to stay. The details and process of qualification still need to be officially worked out.

Douglas County says Shea Properties is in early discussions with county staff and no application has been submitted yet.

Shea Properties says an application needs to be submitted soon to take advantage of a federal affordable housing benefit, and the company is hoping for DCSD to give them a decision on whether it supports the plan by March. The company is asking the district to notify the county if it supports the idea.

"To have affordable housing for school district \, employees would be a benefit and help us attract teachers," Superintendent Erin Kane said. 

DCSD says it is still gathering information, but board members want to continue the conversation. All of them appeared to support moving the idea to be an action item at a future meeting.

The Douglas County Federation, the teacher's union for DCSD, shared the following statement with CBS Colorado, "The Douglas County Federation and educators at large have not been engaged on any new plans for teacher housing."

"Educators need to be able to live where they work — we know that when teachers are neighbors, it fosters a sense of community that helps students thrive."

"Company housing like this incentivizes a transient workforce and exacerbates the exact issue we are trying to solve."

"But in Douglas County, we don't have a teacher shortage, we have a wage shortage. We have a respect shortage. We can't attract and retain educators because they would rather work in districts with higher pay and collective bargaining agreements."

"The Colorado Education Association released in their 2025–26 State of Education report that 88% of Colorado educators believe they should have a legally protected right to bargain. More than three in five educators would only work in districts with a collective bargaining agreement, and 90% of educators report a collective bargaining district is preferred."

"If DCSD is serious about solving their teacher retention issue, they should engage our educators in collective bargaining, something they haven't done in 13 years."