At its meeting last week, the Forward Together Facilities Initiative (FTFI) heard about innovative strategies used by Colorado school districts and entrepreneurs to convert unneeded facilities and land into affordable housing for teachers.  

“This is an incredibly important topic,” said Kwame Spearman, who is working with school districts across the state to create affordable housing for teachers by repurposing existing assets, and in some cases selling land to developers in exchange for guarantees to create affordable housing for teachers. “Fewer young teachers want to work in Colorado because they can’t afford to live here.”

The meeting with Spearman, who is a Colorado native and the former CEO of Tattered Cover, provided a valuable perspective to committee members who are looking at possible long term uses of district facilities and resources. WPS, like many school districts, is wrestling with the implications of declining enrollments generated by falling birth rates and the rising cost of housing in Colorado. 

No decisions have been made about whether any WPS schools should be closed or repurposed. The FTFI committee will likely make recommendations to the Board of Education in early 2026.

A new report by the Keystone Policy Center, We Can’t Live Where We Teach, supports Spearman’s analysis. The report, which surveyed thirty-two hundred educators in urban, rural and suburban districts across the state found that on average, young teachers spend 40 percent of their salary on housing. That number is significantly above the average employee who spends 25 to 30 percent of their salary to pay rent or a mortgage. 

“Westminster Public Schools property is very valuable,” Spearman said, encouraging district leaders to consider creative ways to maximize the benefit of facilities for students and the surrounding community. He said there were many benefits to having teachers living in the same community where they teach. “Those first three years for a teacher are a difficult time,” he said. “If they live in proximity to each other and if they have support from other young teachers, it leads to overall happiness and retention.”   

School districts in Byers, Hudson, Wiggins, Aspen and Denver have all embraced different strategies to make teacher housing affordable. Committee members had many questions for Spearman, who encouraged them to reach out to him and others to learn more.