**Byline:** Mike Joe
Santa Barbara teacher housing: SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City Finance Committee has approved a $1 million loan to Santa Barbara Unified School District for about 30 units of employee housing at the former Lawrence M. Parma School site, 915 E. Montecito St., with City Council set for final approval Tuesday on the consent agenda, according to Santa Barbara Independent reporting by Callie Fausey dated Sept. 18, 2026. The campus closed in 1989. The project is aimed at teachers and staff who struggle to live near the schools where they work. The Santa Barbara teacher housing plan would create about 30 units for district employees.
City and district leaders are pitching the deal as a workforce housing bridge, not a market-rate apartment play. Affordability bands are set at roughly 30% to 60% of area median income, with 90-year restrictions running to 2116, Fausey reported. The loan would come from HOME funds on a 30-year term at 3% interest, with construction targeted for May 2029. If approved, the Santa Barbara teacher housing project would provide 30 units for district employees. The plan is a Santa Barbara teacher housing project centered on the former school site. Source: Santa Barbara Independent report Related coverage: Jacksonville affordable housing budget.
Santa Barbara teacher housing: What would be built on the old Parma campus
According to the Independent, the mix includes 10 one-bedroom, 12 two-bedroom, and 8 three-bedroom units plus community space in a three- to four-story building. The Housing Authority would serve as landlord. About 40 parking spaces are planned. Those details matter for neighbors who have watched the closed campus sit in limbo and for staff households that need two- and three-bedroom layouts, not only studios.
Surveys cited in the coverage found that more than half of district staff fall in low or very-low income categories, a striking figure in a coastal market where teacher pay often lags rent. Councilmember Wendy Santamaria has been supportive, and Superintendent Hilda Maldonado has expressed gratitude for the city’s partnership, according to Fausey.
Employee housing is part of a wider local toolkit cities use when wages and rents diverge. Never Late News has covered related housing-finance and production debates in Jacksonville’s [affordable housing trust fund budget](https://neverlatenews.com/jacksonville-affordable-housing-trust-fund-budget/), [Costa Mesa’s Fairview framework for roughly 2,300 homes](https://neverlatenews.com/costa-mesa-fairview-housing-2300-homes-framework/), [Salt Lake City’s expanding housing options](https://neverlatenews.com/salt-lake-city-expanding-housing-options-september/), and [Seattle’s MHA fee discussions](https://neverlatenews.com/seattle-mha-fees-foster-holiday/). Santa Barbara’s version is tightly scoped: a closed school site, a HOME loan, and units reserved for district employees under long affordability covenants.
Why a city loan to a school district
Cities do not usually underwrite school-district housing with HOME dollars unless the project clears affordability, stewardship, and site-control tests. Here, the Finance Committee’s approval and the Tuesday consent path suggest staff convinced committee members the risk profile is acceptable: a 3% loan, 30-year term, Housing Authority landlord role, and deed restrictions lasting to 2116, according to the Independent.
The May 2029 construction target also sets expectations. This is not an overnight relief valve for the 2026-27 school year. It is a multi-year capital project that, if built on schedule, could house dozens of staff households late in the decade.
Why this matters
Teacher and staff housing is a retention story as much as a construction story. When more than half of surveyed staff are low or very-low income in a high-cost coastal city, commute length, burnout, and turnover become education outcomes, not only housing statistics. A $1 million city loan will not solve Santa Barbara’s entire workforce housing shortage, but 30 restricted units on a long-closed school site is a concrete, place-based step voters can track from consent agenda to groundbreaking.
Parents and taxpayers should watch two follow-through questions after Tuesday: whether full council keeps the item on consent without pull-off debate, and whether the May 2029 target holds as design and financing advance.
How Never Late News reported this
Never Late News based this report on Santa Barbara Independent coverage by Callie Fausey (Sept. 18, 2026), including Finance Committee approval, Tuesday City Council consent for final approval, the $1 million loan to Santa Barbara Unified, the 30-unit plan at the former Lawrence M. Parma School (915 E. Montecito St., closed 1989), unit mix and community space, three- to four-story height, Housing Authority landlord role, about 40 parking spaces, 30% to 60% AMI bands, 90-year restrictions to 2116, HOME funds, 30-year term at 3% interest, May 2029 construction target, staff income survey findings, and comments attributed to Councilmember Wendy Santamaria and Superintendent Hilda Maldonado. Primary source: [Santa Barbara Independent on the $1M employee housing loan](https://www.independent.com/2026/09/18/city-of-santa-barbara-to-loan-school-district-1m-for-employee-housing-at-former-parma-school-site/). We did not invent quotes or independently audit HOME fund balances for this draft.
Corrections and reader feedback
If you spot an error in unit counts, loan terms, addresses, dates, or names, email editor@neverlatenews.com with the correction and a source link. Never Late News corrects factual mistakes promptly and notes substantive updates when Santa Barbara or the school district revises project details after council action.
About Never Late News: Never Late News is a US local and civic news site covering budgets, taxes, schools, housing, and public services with people-first reporting. Articles carry the byline Mike Joe. We prioritize timely, sourced civic coverage over clickbait.