San José Unified School District is keeping two paths open for the employee housing it promised voters, San José Spotlight reports. Late last month it filed an application with the city of San Jose to start preliminary review of a project at 760 Hillsdale Ave. At the same time, it is studying whether to buy 337 condos in the Silvery Towers high-rise at 188 W. St. James St. downtown.
The money
Either option would be paid for with Measure R, the nearly $1.2 billion school bond district voters approved in November 2024. More than $282 million is expected to go to workforce housing, according to the Spotlight. The district says on its website that the board placed the bond on the ballot with workforce housing as a main priority.
Why the district says it needs housing
In a January 2025 survey of more than 1,200 employees, 43% said they had considered leaving their job within five years because of housing costs, the district says. Chief business officer Seth Reddy told the Spotlight the Hillsdale review could take 26 to 41 months before construction begins, and the application was filed under Senate Bill 330. He said buying an existing building could lower housing costs significantly and leave more Measure R money for school upgrades.
The pushback
Teacher Yolanda Guerra, a union member, called the condo option "a slap in the face" because teachers had asked for union-built housing. The Spotlight notes the Silvery Towers project faced accusations that some workers were trafficked and forced to work without pay, and a worker died in a 2018 fall there, prompting a state probe. Michael Melillo, a former co-chair of the Measure R campaign, said he prefers building on district land, warning that the condos may be mostly one-bedrooms when 75% of surveyed employees wanted two to four bedrooms.
What's next
District officials said at an Oct. 20 committee meeting they are still investigating both options. No purchase decision has been made.