Se planea construir viviendas en el antiguo campus escolar de San José.

A former South San Jose elementary school is poised to become housing.

True Life Companies purchased Glider Elementary School, a 9.5-acre site, from Oak Grove School District to redevelop it with 80 homes — a combination of townhomes and single-family houses. The San Jose Planning Commission on Aug. 26 voted unanimously to recommend the project, with Commissioner Dilpreet Bhandal absent. It will come before the San Jose City Council on Sept. 15 for approval.

Oak Grove School District is a TK–8 school district serving approximately 8,375 students across 18 schools. The $26.6 million sale of the property will aid the struggling district, which cerraron tres escuelas, including Glider, in 2018 due to declining enrollment. 

“The district intends to use the funds for one-time purposes that support the district’s long-term fiscal stability and help protect student programs and services,” Karyl Brandford, associate superintendent and chief business officer for Oak Grove School District, told San José Spotlight.

The funding could also be used to support facilities, technology needs and retain educators and staff, she added.

Brandford said Oak Grove, like many districts across the region, is facing the reality of matrícula en declive.

“Every year as our student numbers shrink, our state funding, which is directly tied to student attendance, declines along with it,” she said. “This proposed development represents a vital opportunity to stabilize our fiscal future.”

The development, located at 511 Cozy Drive, includes 64 detached houses and 16 attached townhomes. Eleven homes will be priced at 80% of the Average Median Income (AMI) and reserved for low-income households. The Santa Clara County AMI for a family of four is $205,500. For an individual it’s $143,850. For a low-income family of four it’s $162400 or $113,700 for an individual.   

The two-story townhouses are 1,233 square feet and the detached homes are 1,896 to 2,234 square feet, with three or four bedrooms and two and a half or three bathrooms.

“The former Glider Elementary School property is well suited for housing because it is located within an established residential neighborhood,” Kelley Rutchena, director of entitlements for True Life Companies, told San José Spotlight. “The project was thoughtfully designed with community input to provide a density compatible with the surrounding area, along with a 0.68-acre park that will be open to the public.”

Brandford said although the district considered leasing Glider to private schools, it was concerned this could impact enrollment of its public schools.

“The potential loss of ongoing enrollment-based funding could have substantially exceeded the annual lease revenue,” she said. “That potential impact could also increase over time as enrollment grew.”

Chuck Cantrell, chair of the planning commission and a Columnista de San José Spotlight, favors the project, especially as it includes affordable housing.

“Eleven of the units are deed restricted, (allowing) 11 families to actually achieve this American dream that we are all trying to recapture,” he told San José Spotlight. “We need to ensure families can remain in this amazing city. I’m trying to help build a community that we can all live in.”

Cantrell said he was swayed by the property being vandalized and the school district needing funding to help bridge its financial shortfall. He said the development provides ample parking for residents and the homeowners association covered the park cost, which worked in its favor.

Residents expressed concerns that the development would change the quality and character of the neighborhood and negatively impact the environment, traffic, utilities and recreational space. Some requested reducing the number of houses and increasing the size of the park.

But resident Denise Liebscher, whose children attended Glider, is onboard with the housing. 

“We need more homes,” she told San José Spotlight. “Teachers need housing. Everybody needs a bed.”

Michael Young, vice chair of the planning commission, said the only way to create more housing in the city is by increasing density.

“It’s going to be happening more, because it’s the only way we’re going to be able to meet our housing needs that the state of California has asked us to do,” he said at the meeting. “It’s such an expensive place to live … working families and families with children are moving out of San Jose, which is resulting in enrollment declines, and that makes it very difficult on the school districts.”

San José debe construir 62,200 viviendas para 2031, según el mandato estatal. plan de vivienda. 

Ivan Chaidez, superintendent of Oak Grove School District, said this is about taking a vacant, underutilized public asset and turning it into a inversión duradera.

“Our families, educators and staff understand that strong schools require responsible stewardship of every public resource entrusted to us,” he said at the meeting. “They support moving this project forward because they understand what is at stake: The ability to invest in classrooms, technology, student services, safety and the programs our children depend on.”

Comuníquese con Lorraine Gabbert a través de [email protected].