Middle school class sizes in DeKalb School District 428 schools could soon see a reduction, should plans for a new early learning development center proceed.

School board members could soon deliberate funding plans for constructing a new early learning development center off Normal and Dresser roads. No official vote has been taken yet.

The land in question, located down the street from DeKalb High School, was donated to the district in 2023.

Billy Hueramo, the district’s director of teaching and learning for elementary education, said the district’s end goal is simple.

“We were asked at [Facilities and Finance Committee] to come up with a long-term plan, not just something where we’re putting patches on stuff, but really looking at what the growth is going to be in the future,” Hueramo said.

ELDC is contained in 10 classrooms at Huntley Middle School. Under plans for a new building, the program would have space for up to 24 classrooms.

Recent board consensus is intended to aid efforts to reduce middle school class sizes from 35 to 30. The district previously lowered elementary school class sizes from 28 to 25.

Kyle Gerdes, the district’s director of student services, said giving students the attention they need is paramount to their academic success and social-emotional well-being.

He said students aren’t always getting the support they need.

“We have to intervene earlier than we are right now, and that’s a huge credit to our ELDC staff,” Gerdes said. “But our kids’ lives need it.”

The DeKalb County Health Department has been diverting people from ELDC, which ELDC Principal Shannon Armstrong said goes to show how the district is limited in its ability to serve students and their families.

“We have heard from them that they are not even recommending our program anymore to the client because we just don’t have the room and the space,” Armstrong said. “Having a dedicated new building for ELDC, we’ll be able to serve more kids, more families that would need the program.”

Construction of a new ELDC is anticipated for an April 2027 start, district staff said. Renovations also would be sought at Huntley Middle School for a June 2028 start date to better allow the building to serve grades 7 and 8 districtwide.

The district’s plans also call for restoring Founders Elementary School and reestablishing Clinton Rosette Middle School into middle school buildings serving grades five and six. That means the rest of the elementary school buildings would return to a K-4 service model.

In an interview, Lincoln Elementary School assistant principal Ben Erickson said he knows how much of a difference the reduced elementary school class sizes have had in his building.

“We do see a huge difference in just the ability for teachers to be able to work with a smaller group of students,” Erickson said. “They’ll have smaller groups of students to work with those small groups or they have more time to work with those small groups because they don’t have as many kids to interact with.”

In an interview, Clinton Rosette Middle School principal Brant Boyer echoed that sentiment.

“I think it definitely, from what I’ve heard from those teachers, it’s definitely profoundly enhanced the teaching and learning that’s going on at the elementary level,” Boyer said.

A majority of the school board expressed support for not going out to a referendum to allow voters to weigh in on the matter. They argued that such a ballot measure would likely fail, as people commonly tend to associate a referendum with a request for added money. Officials said DeKalb District 428 is not looking to raise taxes.

Board President Chris Boyes said he doesn’t support the idea of going out to a referendum any longer.

He said he doesn’t want to leave it to chance that the voters will understand the nature of the district’s request.

“I think that this is just too valuable work that we need to do to get our district where it needs to be,” Boyes said.

Board member Nick Atwood said he used to be in favor of going out to a referendum, but this is no longer the case.

“My fear is that many people would vote in favor of this referendum because they know what’s at stake, but the people who aren’t aware of it, they’re not going to see a valid referendum that tells you this is going to be paid for in cash. It’s not going to increase your taxes. There’ll be a knee-jerk reaction to vote against it.”

For months, some public commenters at board meetings have called on the district to discuss plans for ELDC. Among those routinely in attendance was ELDC teacher Katie Hueber.

In an interview, ELDC teacher Katie Hueber said she feels supported by the district.

“I feel like everybody’s on the same page moving forward, and they all know the importance of early childhood education,” Hueber said. “They also understand that right now, we’re limited in our ability to meet our district’s needs with space, in general, between the early childhood center and our middle schools.”

In an interview, Armstrong said it’s “heartbreaking” knowing that ELDC can’t serve more students.

“We’re currently full, and we have 98 children on the waitlist,” Armstrong said. “That’s just our pre-k students. Not to mention, we have children [who] are transitioning from early intervention and if those children qualify, we are obligated to place them into the classroom.”

For one school official, the public’s repeated presence at board meetings was enough to pull at his emotions.

Board Vice President Jose Jaques said the public’s show of support for students’ needs has been heard.

“Heartstrings have been played,” Jaques said.

Not everyone on the school board was in support of not going out to a referendum, but they were all in favor of committing district funds generated from the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone to cover a majority of the project costs.

An Enterprise Zone is defined as a geographical area in which businesses may receive tax benefits and other incentives to help spur new economic growth.

Board member Mark Charvat said he supports the district’s plans to build a new ELDC.

“I believe for transparency purposes, the community should be involved,” Charvat said. “I fully think the community could support it. And with the community support behind this at the ballot, it provides even more support for ELDC.”

Board member Kristin Bailey said that going out to a referendum may not provide the board with the desired credibility to act.

“And that’s the problem that I have with seeking, going out to a referendum when you don’t have to,” Bailey said. “As much value as what you’re saying and I want that – based on what I know, having studied these sorts of things – I don’t think we’d get that sense without a huge effort to educate."

Total costs for the construction of a new ELDC and fixes at Huntley Middle School are projected at $32.3 million and $840,000, respectively, school board documents show. Expenses would be primarily borne by the district’s share of funding from the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone.

Jaques questioned whether the $840,000 figure floated by the district to fix Huntley Middle School is all-inclusive of all the renovations needed.

“Does that include the tens of thousands of dollars that would be necessary to turn Founders [Elementary School] into a [grades] 5 [to] 6 building?” Jaques said.

District staff said they are still working to get an estimated figure.

Jessica Nall, the district’s assessment coordinator, said it all comes down to efficiencies.

“It’s really the economies of scale,” Nall said. “Moving this direction allows us to provide the most appropriate support curricularly and developmentally for our students in more centralized locations for grades 5 through 8.”

In an interview, Boyes said the district has nixed the idea of establishing a joint facility with Sycamore School District 427.

Earlier on in the board’s discussions on this topic, the idea of a shared building was floated.

“We didn’t find that it would be an arrangement that would have worked out for both sides well, so we decided to pursue an option on our own,” Boyes said.

The district has not ruled out partnering with other area school districts should it move forward with building a new ELDC, officials said.

Atwood said he supports the district’s plans to construct a new ELDC.

“I think if we build it, they will come, so to speak,” Atwood said.