BCPS launched a program in partnership with the City of Battle Creek to encourage teachers and administrators to settle in Battle Creek and invest in the community as homeowners. The program, which is supported by a WKKF grant, provides a down payment or renovation cost assistance to teachers and staff buying or making improvements to a home in a target neighborhood in the BCPS district. In addition, employees are eligible for a rent subsidy for up to a year while they look for a home to purchase.
Since the program’s launch, more than 60 teachers and staff members have taken advantage of these incentives. These incentives were particularly helpful in the district’s efforts to recruit new staff during the national teacher shortage caused by the pandemic. In the 2022-23 school year, the district will expand housing incentives for staff, doubling the amount of financial support available for down payment assistance and increasing the number of those who are eligible for the rental assistance program.
(Pictured above) Tyler Gilland, freshman academy principal at BC Central, relocated to Battle Creek. He and his wife used the district’s housing incentive program to purchase their first home.