Lakewood developing strategic housing plan for a ordable housing Je co teachers union bargains for higher pay and more planning time

The JCEA presented bargaining points to the Je co Board of Education

Feb. 1.

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Compensation was one of the top bargaining priorities that the Jefferson County Education Association, the county’s teacher’s union, presented to the Board of Education, along with the need for more paid planning time.

“We need to respect educators as experts, and ensure their voices are centered when making decisions regarding learning and working conditions,” Brooke Williams, the JCEA president, said at the start of the Feb. 1 meeting.

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Lakewood is following the steps of its neighboring cities and developing a strategic housing plan to assist in increasing a ordable housing in the city.

e Lakewood City Council had a study session Feb. 6. discussing the outsourced reporting on Lakewood’s current housing situation and the next steps for the plan.

Highlights of the research by Gruen Gruen + Associates, an analyst company specializing in land use, were both single-family home prices and monthly apartment rents increasing substantially since 2015 — homes by 96 percent averaging

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$733,000, and apartments by 33 percent at $1,891 since 2017.

Over half of these renters were also found to be cost-burdened, or spending more than 30% of their wages on housing, with almost 90 percent of new residential permits issued from 2002 to 2022 being for

Eleven members of the JCEA were in attendance, with Williams’ statement setting the tone for most of their points to the Board including that the need for more planning time was not just a matter of convenience for teachers, but the only way to better the District’s education.

“Even if teachers are receiving all their plan time (225 minutes per week) it is not enough,” part of the

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