PECOS, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Pecos Barstow Toyah ISD is providing its staff and teachers with a unique opportunity, staff housing.

“I think they are excited about the apartment complexes opening up, We can’t wait to get them open, I know our contractor is working hard to get them open, and we’re excited about that,” said PBTISD Superintendent, Brent Jaco.

With one complex already open, and one under construction, the district is using this opportunity to help recruit and retain employees.

One staff housing complex already serves 56 people, 47 are even on the waiting list!
But a brand new complex is in the works right now and will open up 64 more apartments for district teachers and staff.

“We currently have 56 units, this is an additional 64, so we’ll have 120 total housing units. We’ll go back and look at remodeling some of the existing units that we have and expanding those a little bit,” said Superintendent Jaco.

Jaco credits to the school board with the idea.

“We took the initiative, our board had the foresight to take the initiative to build an apartment complex to support our teachers and staff that we need in the classrooms, that we need on campuses,” said Superintendent Jaco.

The new staff housing units began construction in May of last year.

“Every day we have 50-75 people here on our site,” said Asahel Nadrid, the Site Superintendent for PBTISD staff housing.

Now 18 months in, the whole community is buzzing about the exciting opportunity for affordable housing.

“We were able to have some extra money that we had in our fund balance, we made the commitment. We could’ve put it towards other projects, the average age of facilities in Pecos, when we started, was 65 years old. We knew we had to have teachers in the classroom, without them our kids are going to have a hard time learning. So we had to do something to recruit and retain our staff, we know there is limited housing in Pecos, housing cost is extremely high, its more than what teachers can afford. We had to do something to help support and offset that,” said Superintendent Jaco.

“The neighbors are really glad to see that this empty lot has actually turned into an apartment complex and is actually going to provide safe housing for the community. They’re happy the district is stepping up for staff,” said Nadrid.

“Housing costs escalate, beyond what teachers and educators can afford, and that’s one of the reasons we need our state legislators,” said Superintendent Jaco.

This specific complex will go at the sight of a former elementary school. The units are not completely free, district staff and teachers pay rent to the district.

“They do pay rent to the district, it’s not free, but it offsets the costs of what a private apartment would be. We do offset those costs so there are not issues with the IRS. It’s 750 for a one-bedroom, 950 for a 2 bedroom, and 1050 for a three-bedroom apartment,” said Superintendent Jaco.

If this is something you’re interested in, you can reach out to the school district directly for how to apply.