The town of McCordsville has created a housing committee in conjunction with the Mt. Vernon Community School corporation in order to help alleviate housing prices for teachers at Mt. Vernon.
The committee, which is made up of two teachers from Mt. Vernon, the district’s superintendent Jack Parker, Shannon Walls of the school board, McCordsville Town Council member Dr. Bryan Burney, McCordsville planning and building director Ryan Crum and a developer based out of Alabama.
The committee, which completed its third meeting on Wednesday, July 24, has been charged with recommending courses of action to the McCordsville town council to help alleviate rising housing prices for teachers, who have largely been priced out of the district at Mt. Vernon.
Parker surveyed teachers at Mt. Vernon, revealing that over half of respondents did not currently live in the district, with 44.3% of those out of district listing housing costs as a primary factor for not living there. Another 26.6% listed housing availability as a main reason.
Of all respondents, about 36% said they would be generally willing to move to McCordsville, with that number increasing to around 39% when specifically asked if they could do so while saving $200/month from their current living situation.
There were two main areas of focus for where affordable teacher housing could be; either the soon-to-open McCords Square development, an apartment complex, or a new neighborhood being built near Jacobi Farms which could provide single-family homes. The consensus from the teachers seemed to be around single-family homes being preferable for several reasons, including both space and the removal of potential for situations like sharing a wall with a student. Pet-friendly housing was also a necessity, as the teachers on the committee noted that most of their colleagues own pets and would be unwilling to part with them for a move.
The committee is mostly focused on younger teachers and those new to the district, as teachers who are already tenured and established in the area are less likely to want to move even if they live further away. The committee plans to meet three more times before making its final proposals to the council and hoped to have a solidified plan in place for its next meeting.
