Johnson County is pricing out teachers. One district might build its own housing
Nearly half of Carter Black’s monthly income as a teacher in the Blue Valley School District goes toward his housing costs, he said.
“I’m able to live and get by, but it’s difficult to get anything into (my) savings account,” said Black, who teaches biology and chemistry at Blue Valley West High School. “I don’t feel like I’m falling behind, but I don’t feel like I’m getting ahead.”
He’s now in his fourth year teaching Blue Valley high schoolers and loves working for the district, but Johnson County’s high cost of living has left him questioning whether he should go back home to Wichita, where it’s more affordable, or leave teaching altogether, Black said.
“I’d like to (stay) as long as I can afford it,” he said.
Black’s not alone. Many teachers and residents across the county are feeling pinched by Johnson County’s rising costs of living. Leaders worry that the consequences of those rising costs could harm one of the county’s most-prized assets: its schools.
With fewer affordable options available and wages not keeping pace with the high prices, teachers often live outside of the district or take on additional jobs to supplement their income, Black said.
In an effort to combat rising housing prices and recruit and retain teachers, Blue Valley is exploring ways it could develop its own housing that its staff could afford on underused, district-owned property.
The district, which spans most of southeastern Johnson County, is in the early stages of this idea, recently forming a committee to look into first steps.
Superintendent Gillian Chapman said she recognized such an effort wouldn’t be a perfect or final solution. Rather, it’s a creative approach at a time when the housing market has mostly been building luxury apartments and upscale homes in the area, and the district is tightening its budget due to declining enrollment and challenges with state aid.
“The void of stable and affordable housing is an issue in many communities and it’s absolutely an issue in Blue Valley, one that I actually did not expect to encounter,” Chapman said. “The goal is to have stable and affordable housing.”
‘There’s a lot of pressure’
Black moved to Johnson County in 2023 to try something new, he said. Like many teachers, he said he felt a call to serve his community through education.
“I think the things you do in your career and your life, you want to make the world around you better,” he said. “I really enjoy seeing those kids succeed and at the end of the day the world I want to live in is one where we have the most robust education system possible.”
In Overland Park, where Black currently lives, the average appraised value of homes in 2025 sat around $530,000, and the average sale price was just under $610,000. The average rent in Johnson County sits at $1,800 per month, according to county data.
Homes that are considered attainable for first-time buyers — which are typically priced at $300,000 or less — are depleting in Johnson County, according to county data.
Starting salaries at Blue Valley for first-year teachers with a bachelor’s degree sit just above $52,000 per year, according to district data. First-year teachers with a master’s degree range from $60,000 to $62,000 per year, depending on the number of credits.
During the school year, Black is compensated for his time as an assistant football coach and wrestling coach. During the summer and weekends, he works as a bartender to supplement his income.
“There’s a lot of pressure. A lot of teachers do side work, a lot of people don’t live in the district. But that is the reality for a lot of them,” Black said. “All of us want our own home, to go on vacation from time to time.”
Black said he doesn’t blame the school district for the circumstances. Instead, he believes it’s a widespread problem that will take many solutions to bring some relief.
“Blue Valley has been good. All schools in the KC area are working hard, but this issue is a greater systemic problem,” he said. “There’s no negative sentiment on my part. It’s a bigger systemic issue, and I’m proud of the work the district has done.”
Chapman’s past housing efforts
If Blue Valley moves forward with the concept, it wouldn’t be Chapman’s first time.
The superintendent came back home to Kansas last year after leading the Teton County School District in Jackson, Wyoming, for a little over 10 years. During her time in Wyoming, she was able to help get three housing projects off the ground that were specifically catered to teachers at a time when Jackson’s housing market skyrocketed.
Like in Blue Valley, housing costs in Wyoming priced out Teton County teachers, faculty and staff — particularly those new to the profession — Chapman said.
The first was a $16 million, 24-unit apartment complex that was specifically for Teton County teachers on a remnant parcel of district-owned land.
“It’s something I’m really proud of because while it was only 24 units, it creates stability for 24 or more employees of the school district and really positively impacting (teachers) over time,” she said.
In another instance, the school district partnered with an organization similar to Habitat for Humanity to build homes on land donated to the district. Using a land trust model, teachers are able to buy a home at 30% of the market rate, or $450,000 in the area, and the homes remain affordable in perpetuity, she said. Market value in Jackson at the time was roughly $1.6 million, she said.
While some faculty members expressed concerns about the district acting as a landlord or property manager, or worried about losing their housing if they left the profession, Chapman said most teachers were relieved.
“You have to choose it. You know, 95% of the people were choosing it because they were so relieved to have stable and affordable housing,” she said.
How would it work in Blue Valley?
Blue Valley administrative and school board officials recently formed a housing committee to talk about the possibility of the district driving its own housing development projects and to research its options.
A lot of Blue Valley’s under-used land sits at the district’s southern and eastern boundaries, which doesn’t have developed infrastructure yet, like sewer and water lines, she said. However, the district has identified a few areas of Blue Valley-owned land near the district offices and in the Hilltop area that have potential.
Chapman declined to identify specific sites since they aren’t ready to advance specific projects quite yet.
“We don’t have the finances we could dedicate toward staff housing,” she said. “We’re limited by the resources we have, but we’re certainly interested in talking with any partner that might want to work with us on developing affordable housing on Blue Valley property.”
While it would be a first for Blue Valley, developing housing on under-used, government-owned property is something that both Johnson County and Overland Park have been exploring in order to bring more affordable options to the market.
The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners recently passed a policy that directs county staff to identify under-used, county-owned property to potentially develop as affordable housing projects — with the commission recently approving one development at a former emergency medical services building.
In Overland Park, the City Council identified property on Switzer Road in the southern portion of the city to build smaller scale, and ideally more affordable, homes.
Chapman said similar developments in Blue Valley could create an “essential component” to help recruit and retain teachers — which could help maintain the area’s “high quality” public school system.
“This isn’t going to be a cash cow for anybody, but what we do have that is pretty valuable (is) land,” Chapman said. “We have the willingness and we have … these high quality individuals that are working in our schools and dedicating themselves to the betterment of this community.”
“Wouldn’t it be great to have them living in our community?”
