The California School Boards Association (CSBA) is partnering with DCG Strategies to expand its portfolio of services with Property Planning Solutions, a real estate services product available to local educational agencies (LEAs) statewide. With a membership of nearly 1,000 LEAs, impacting more than 6 million school-age children throughout California, CSBA represents elected officials who govern public school districts and county offices of education. In addition to providing policy resources and training to members, the nonprofit association also represents the statewide interests of public education through legal, legislative, community and media advocacy. For the first time in its history, these resources will now include real estate.
“We are honored to be partnering with CSBA to provide this valuable service to school districts,” said Landis Graden, CEO of DCG Strategies. “Our goal is to provide the best real estate solutions for each school district’s needs — which translates to both financial and social impacts. Ultimately, students will benefit the most from this new offering because it can provide a school district with financial resources that can be reinvested in education, student resources or affordable teacher housing, attracting and retaining more educators to the area.”
Bay Area-based DCG Strategies is a niche commercial real estate firm that offers a comprehensive suite of strategic advising, property planning and real estate services to leaders of school districts, faith communities, local governments and nonprofits so they can transform their real estate into resources for their missions and the communities they serve.
“As districts and county offices of education continue to face long-term funding challenges and teacher shortages in key subject areas, CSBA recognizes the value in utilizing all of their assets to the greatest degree,” said CSBA Assistant Executive Director, Member Services Naomi Eason. “CSBA identified DCG Strategies as a partner that could help LEAs make informed financial decisions about their real estate.”
Property Planning Solutions, in partnership with DCG Strategies, aims to help school leaders gain access to real estate experts who work with you to align your district’s priorities with the realities of the real estate market. Property Planning Solutions offers real estate consulting, property planning, strategic asset management, educator housing development and real property brokerage services.
The partnership is the first of its kind in the state and can be a valuable resource as LEAs continue to navigate challenges brought on by the pandemic, such as declining enrollments and a lack of qualified teachers due to California’s steep housing prices.
Enrollment in K–12 schools declined by nearly 3 percent between 2019–20 and 2020–21. Any shortfalls that persist into 2022–23 would result in lower state funding. And according to EdSource, many districts do not have enough fully qualified teachers to fill regular classrooms, let alone to launch new academic programs this fall.
“Many school districts already have the solutions to these challenges through their real estate — through their existing, under-utilized properties but they don’t have the expertise to come up with the best way to leverage those resources,” said Graden. “This partnership and this new offering will enable districts to understand best practices, identify and execute the best solutions, and ultimately reinvest the value of those properties into students and teachers in our state.”
“We hope this new partnership will allow LEAs to make smart and timely decisions about the best ways to use all of their properties,” said CSBA Senior Director of Business Development James Collins.
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CSBA is a nonprofit association representing nearly 1,000 PreK-12 school districts and county offices of education throughout California. For more information, visit www.csba.org.
DCG Strategies is a commercial real estate firm with a distinct mission to serve California’s community-benefit organizations. Unlike conventional real estate firms, DCG is officially recognized as a benefit corporation, committed to higher standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. DCG measures and manages the impact of its decisions on DCG employees, clients, community, and environment. www.dcgstrategies.com
