Bringing back the dorms?: Affordable housing presents challenges for Yuba College students

Feb. 23—There was a time nearly 20 years ago when students enrolling in Yuba College had the option to live on campus.

The former dormitories were demolished in 2021 after it was determined that severe remodeling would be necessary to reinstate them for student use. While the dorms have been out of commission for nearly two decades, the lack of affordable housing for Yuba College students presents unique challenges for those who need to relocate for their education.

In 2005, the community college's Board of Trustees announced that the last of its three remaining residence halls were to close in response to the "deplorable conditions" of the buildings.

Following this announcement, Yuba College administrators began using the buildings as additional office space in order to utilize the buildings in some capacity. However, Yuba College President Tawny Dotson said the dorms have not been used as office space or otherwise in over eight years.

According to Dotson, a facilities conditions index survey was performed through the college district, which determined that it would be more expensive to remodel the buildings than to demolish them and build new ones.

According to Appeal archives, the conditions of the dorms prior to their demolition also hosted mold and bacteria, which would have contributed to a number of health problems for students.

Dotson said that some of these dorms presented the risk of asbestos exposure and featured non-accessible infrastructure for disabled students and visitors.

"The doors were smaller than what is currently allowed with ADA accessibility. They were also built during a time when asbestos was used regularly in construction materials, so for those and a series of other reasons, the dorms were unable to continue to function without a major, major remodel. Essentially costing more than it would to take them down and build new ones," Dotson said.

Ultimately, the decision to tear down the former dorms was made due to the safety hazard of keeping empty, unused buildings on campus, Dotson said.

"It's always a safety challenge to have people in buildings when there's hazardous materials. ... We knew what wasn't going to be possible was remodeling them in their current state. It was a safer, better option for us to take the dorms down and have that space to be used for something else," she said.

There is no official plan of how the former dorm space will be reutilized, but Dotson said that there have been some talks of turning the area into an outdoor student gathering place.

In 2021, Yuba College's District Director of Facilities David Willis said that the presence of mold and hazardous material in the buildings' HVAC systems contributed to unsafe indoor air quality. The buildings also failed to meet seismic structural codes.

"Since these buildings are not being used to support the instructional mission of the College/District, they have not been prioritized for repairs with minimal resources available. These old worn-out buildings certainly do not present the College well and reflect poorly on the rest of the campus," Willis said in an April 2021 board meeting agenda.

With the dorms being closed for 18 years, students relocating for college have to seek housing off-campus. However, the lack of affordable housing for students in the Yuba-Sutter area presents barriers to education as students struggle to find suitable accommodations.

Dotson believes that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of living was much more manageable for Yuba College students.

"With the success, perhaps, of the real estate market, we have seen that change. It's definitely much more expensive to live here than it has been in the past, and that becomes much more challenging for our students," she said.

Those unable to find suitable housing often have no choice but to commute to school from areas where rent is cheaper or live with multiple roommates to afford rent. Dotson said that while a majority of Yuba College students come from the Yuba-Sutter area, a significant number of students come from other regions.

Students from areas beyond Yuba-Sutter may be willing to commute for the college's athletics or academic programs, but commuting presents its own risks for student success, said Doug Cornelius, a basketball coach for Yuba College.

In his 22 years with the school, Cornelius said that every year some of his players struggle to find housing in the area. Some students who commute from outer areas like Sacramento or Roseville risk missing practice or class due to car issues, traffic or being unable to afford a daily commute, he said.

"Once a week, we have a kid whose car broke down or they don't have gas money to make the trip. It's a constant battle, and it makes a lot more kids late for school or practice," Cornelius said.

According to Dotson, there simply isn't enough affordable housing in the area to meet the need. In order to help alleviate this issue for students, Yuba College recently hired a basic needs coordinator to connect students to housing, food and transportation resources.

"One of her responsibilities will be to have resources available for students who are looking for housing options whether that be apartments to rent, rooms to rent or houses, to try to be a connection for them or housing challenges. She will certainly also work with the counties and cities to identify ways for us to hopefully have more opportunities for students to access housing," Dotson said.

Over the years, some students have expressed interest in trying to rebuild dorms for Yuba College. Dotson said that while this is something that the college would be interested in offering to its students, financial sustainability comes into question.

"Dorms are expensive to build and maintain and to run. In order to have them, they would need to be rented at an affordable cost. We would certainly be interested in having those available for our students, but we would need to do so when we're sure it would be sustainable for us as an institution. We would need to have access to the kind of funds necessary for us to make sure that they're well-maintained long term," she said.

Limited amounts of state funding is available to maintain dorms, so many institutions rely on bond measures to maintain their dorm facilities. Without the help of additional funds, Dotson said Yuba College would be unable to rent its dorms out at a rate that is comparable to a dorm's maintenance cost.

"We want to make good, sustainable decisions that ensure that our facilities as a whole are well-maintained long term. The dorms would be challenging for us because we would need additional bond funding to be able to maintain them," she said.

Dotson said that the college's current Board of Trustees is considering the possibility of seeking a bond measure in the next election, but whether this is something that the board will officially pursue or how funds from a bond measure would be used have yet to be discussed.