Wake County leaders are pitching a plan to build affordable housing for teachers and school employees on unused land next to five public schools, as officials warn that more than half of surveyed school staff say they cannot afford to live where they work. The proposal, set to be presented to the Wake County school board and county commissioners on Wednesday, would target vacant parcels near Heritage High in Wake Forest, Salem Middle in Apex, Carpenter Elementary in Cary, Hilburn Drive Academy in Raleigh, and Morrisville Elementary.
The push comes amid stark numbers on educator housing strain. A joint employee survey conducted by Wake County and the Wake County Public School System found that 52% of responding staff agreed they could not afford to live in Wake County, and 38% said they had considered leaving the district specifically because of housing costs, according to Wake County Government. A concurrent countywide community survey showed 56% of residents ranked affordable housing as a top local priority. As WRAL reports, Wake County currently has no program offering affordable teacher housing, and county spokesperson Kate Maroney said the proposal is focused on affordable housing generally rather than a specific population.
Wake County is weighing several housing types for the sites, including multifamily buildings, townhomes, attached and detached single-family homes, patio homes, and cottage courts, per the same WRAL report. County leaders plan to give priority to WCPSS teachers and employees, though the housing would also be open to the general public. Maroney cautioned that many steps still need to be taken before anything is built, and the county does not expect all five school sites to end up in a final plan.
A Land Swap Years in the Making
The housing push is tied to a larger land swap. Wake County wants to trade control of jointly owned eastern Raleigh land to the school district, while receiving school district land in west Raleigh near the state fairgrounds in return, the station’s report notes. The county controls planning and use of the eastern land and believes the school district could eventually build a middle school and an elementary school south of that property; the county separately plans a new animal center on the same eastern parcel. In exchange, Wake County intends to use the west Raleigh land near the fairgrounds for additional county offices. The city of Raleigh also co-owns the eastern land, adding another layer to the negotiations…