What you need to know
District staff provided the first update on RRISD’s rental assistance program, which supports a portion of rental costs at four different apartment complexes in partnership with the Texas Workforce Housing Foundation, at an Oct. 17 board meeting.
The program initially started with $250 per month in housing assistance for district employees at participating apartment properties. However, as of Oct. 1, district employees participating in the program will now receive $350 per month in rental assistance, totaling $4,200 per year.
Assistance has become an important recruiting tool, said Eddie Curran, RRISD's chief of human resources.
How we got here
In 2023, the district signed a memorandum of intent with the Texas Workforce Housing Foundation, appropriating funds to offset some of the cost of housing for district employees at four apartment complexes within its bounds: Enclave at La Frontera, Lakeline, Lake Creek and Lakeside. These funds are not district funds, said Kristin Massey, director of the assistance program through the SH 130 Municipal Management District, but come from a nonprofit public facility corporation through agreements made with developers via property tax exemptions.
This comes as the cost of living is one source of difficulty former employees have cited as a reason they have left the district, Curran said.
While the initial agreement allows for up to 100 employees to benefit from the program, Curran said that the board could increase this number by signing on to another MOU with TWHF.
What they're saying
"Having this type of program in place allows us to really lower that rental impact that they feel as an employee in our district," Curran said.
