Patterson helps teachers settle down in town

Lots of teachers start out here, but most live a half-hour or so away and within a few years tend to gravitate to schools closer to home. To keep experienced teachers in place, the Patterson Unified School District is helping them put down roots.

“We don’t have problems with initial recruitment of teachers. It’s retention,” said Superintendent Phil Alfano.

The district has only three openings for teachers, all high school math or specialty slots. But few of the teachers it hires live in Patterson. Nearly two-thirds of its teachers commute from other communities and eventually tire of the daily drive, Alfano said. “We almost cringe sometimes when we hire from particular cities.”

One of those would be Turlock, a suburban enclave along Highway 99 that lies a straight-shot, 16-mile drive away from rural Patterson. Las Palmas Elementary School teacher Tiffany Hood and Patterson High School teacher Ashley Matyn live in rentals there, commuting a half-hour each way, each day.

Both, however, have plans to buy homes in Patterson, taking advantage of two ways to save for a down payment offered by the district in a pilot teacher housing assistance program this year.

“I’ve worked in Patterson for 10 years, and I was at a point where I needed to decide if moving to Patterson was an option,” said Hood, a single mom, as her 2-year-old chatted in the background. “I think a lot of teachers in Patterson have to decide, do they put their children in school where they work? Do we stay (teaching) in Patterson or do we move out and work in the town where our children would go to school?”

Hood will move in August into one of two apartments the school district bought in Patterson, putting $500 of her $1,200 a month rent into a savings account that can only be used for a down payment on a Patterson residence. The program runs for up to three years, with teachers able to back out if their circumstances change.

Saddled with student loans for her master’s degree, finding extra money to save for that initial leap into home ownership seemed out of reach, Hood said. “It was a great opportunity,” she said.

Matyn, originally from Southern California, took a Patterson post teaching freshman English and PHS yearbook two years ago because she loved the small-town atmosphere.

“It feels established. That’s what I liked,” she said, but she could not find any apartments available. Matyn signed up for the second program, putting $300 of her teaching salary into savings the district will match for up to three years. With $600 a month going toward a down payment, she can turn her attention to finding the perfect fit in older neighborhoods near the city’s historic, circular central plaza.

“I want a small house, an older one with character. On top of saving money, I want to find the right house. I don’t want to buy one just to buy one,” Matyn said. The district incentive gives her a way to make it all happen.

“I think the program is a really good program, especially for new teachers,” she said. “It feels like the community cares.”

Nearly 1 in 5 Patterson Unified teachers are in their first or second year with the district, which has a relatively young staff overall. District teachers have an average of nine years’ experience, compared to a historic average of 12 years for Stanislaus County as a whole.

Nestled against the north-south Central Valley artery of Interstate 5, Patterson has become home to Bay Area commuters and massive new warehouse complexes. The sleepy town of fewer than 10,000 people through the 20th century has grown to a population of more than 21,000 today. Advertisements for public transit over commute routes perch in the medians of four-lane roads beside new subdivisions.

Ironically, 63 percent of its teachers commute in the other direction, driving into Patterson after many of the parents of the 6,000 kids they teach have headed to work. That’s $20 million in payroll rolling out of town, Alfano said.

“The goal here is to get teachers to settle in Patterson,” he said. “We’re the second-largest employer here, and when that many people don’t live here, it’s got to have an impact on your economy.”

Patterson teacher salaries, ranging from $47,000 to $81,000, are generally enough to cover a house payment, but saving up a down payment while paying rent is a stretch, Alfano said. “ I know it was a challenge to me when I was a young teacher.”

The district researched its options for two years before settling on these two programs, both of which may well pay for themselves.

The $300 monthly down payment match is capped at 12 teachers, a potential expense of $43,200 each year. The district has had an attrition rate of about 12 teachers each year, with recruiting and training replacements an estimated $75,000 expense, according to a study by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.

The two town houses were purchased outright with one-time funds, a $451,742 investment that should, barring another housing sector meltdown, appreciate 4 percent per year, Alfano said. The $1,200 monthly rent, minus the $500 down payment savings, is expected to cover taxes, upkeep and saving for future maintenance needs.

Both programs end for individual teachers after three years, with what-if scenarios spelled out in a contract with the Patterson Association of Teachers. Teachers who have been with the district for at least five years get first dibs, then newer teachers if there are remaining slots. A lottery picks the names if too many apply. So far only six teachers have signed up in the district-matched savings program, leaving room for six more. The two new apartments have both been rented.

The programs are unique in this area, Alfano said, though other districts are trying similar incentives. Los Angeles Unified School District is taking applications starting this summer for below-market apartments in Gardena for its employees.

In San Mateo, where the median home price in 2012 was $813,115, the San Mateo County Community College District has built two apartment complexes, renting them at below-market rates to district employees.

The city of San Francisco provides down payment assistance with loans that can be forgiven over time to teachers in San Francisco Unified, especially those working in high-needs schools. Plans are reportedly underway to build a teachers-only apartment complex on school district property.

The federal Good Neighbor Next Door program offers half-off homes to teachers, firefighters and others in revitalization areas, though there were none available in Stanislaus County on Thursday.

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Patterson helps teachers settle down in town."