Schools Weigh Plan to Build Housing Units

Faced with the prospect of displacing hundreds of residents to make way for 85 new schools, Los Angeles school district officials are considering an unusual plan that could boost the city’s low-income housing stock overall.

Under a proposal presented to the board this week, the district would not only help displaced residents find new housing, it would set aside funds--starting with a $1.2-million advance--to build new units in a partnership with the Los Angeles Housing Authority.

It would also seek to increase the number of landlords who rent to low-income tenants under the federal Section 8 program.

About 1,000 families that rent apartments and 250 homeowners will be displaced, starting in January, to build new schools.

Most are low-income residents of crowded areas, such as parts of Central Los Angeles, Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.

“Most relocation programs are focused simply on getting people off of sites so the government can start a building project,” said Mott Smith, director of the housing and relocation program for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

This program, he said, goes much further. Renters could, under state law, obtain money to cover a portion of their housings costs--a lump sum that could range up to tens of thousands of dollars per tenant--for the next 3 1/2 years. Or they could obtain Section 8 vouchers, which would provide them with low-income housing for as long as they needed it.

If they chose the Section 8 option, the district would not have to pay for the housing. It would then devote those savings to increasing affordable housing stock citywide.

There is, however, no guarantee that enough residents will choose the Section 8 option to allow the district to replace the number of housing units it knocks down.

The number of new units will also depend on how the Housing Authority chooses to spend the money it gets from the district. It could, for example, use some money to recruit more Section 8 landlords.

“We don’t actually know how much will be replaced,” Smith said. “It depends on how the program goes.”

Steve Renahan of the Housing Authority said the plan would not substantially delay the applications of the 120,000 people who already are on the Section 8 waiting list.

One lobbyist who supports building more schools statewide praised the L.A. Unified effort to balance the sometimes conflicting interests of educators and housing activists.

“It’s creative, both the idea and the assembling of resources to make this happen in a politically hostile environment,” said Tom Duffy, legislative advocate for the Coalition for Adequate School Housing.

Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, said he is pleased there is a plan to replace some of the units that will be lost but he “would like to see a one-to-one replacement.”

He added that families choosing Section 8 should not be forced to stay in the program forever; there should be a plan to move them into the new housing that is built.

The district would work with landlord associations to entice more apartment owners to accept Section 8 vouchers. It would work with nonprofit and community groups to connect financial planning services and programs with low-income tenants to help them buy homes, using their rent subsidies for down payments.

“There are many bricks in homeownership and--whether it be through relocation benefits or a Section 8 voucher--[this] can be the last brick that they need to actually make that move,” Smith said.

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Times staff writers Duke Helfand and Doug Smith contributed to this report.