Leaders for DeKalb District 428 schools recently explored how to move forward with their ongoing goal of reducing secondary class sizes.

The school board took initial steps during its Feb. 17 meeting, moving forward with a larger plan to reconfigure buildings to make it happen.

District officials have debated ways to shuffle around elementary and middle school classrooms to accommodate a growing student population for months.

It is all part of what the district is calling “Vision For28,″ which has three different iterations: A key point centers on deciding when the district will pay for a new fieldhouse at Huntley Middle School.

Other parts of the district’s plan, as it stands, include adding a section without construction at Mitchell Elementary School and constructing a two-section addition at Lincoln Elementary School.

This way, students in grades K-4 would remain in their respective elementary school buildings, with the exception of students at Founders Elementary School.

The district is considering converting Founders Elementary and Clinton Rosette Middle schools into buildings that would serve grades 5 and 6. Under that plan, Huntley Middle School would serve grades 7 and 8.

Renovations have been identified for these buildings as part of Vision For28.

District officials have said another goal is to eliminate the use of mobile classrooms and provide greater flexibility to meet students’ needs.

Billy Hueramo, the district’s director of teaching and learning for elementary who will take over as superintendent in July, said the district’s end goal centers the learners.

“Really, at the forefront when we started with Vision For28, and it never shifted, was what’s best for our students?” Hueramo said.

Hueramo stressed that it’s all about ensuring the developmental appropriateness of the district’s school buildings and promoting equitable access.

Under Vision For28, Founders Elementary and Clinton Rosette Middle schools would use a self-contained model in which fifth-grade students would have two teachers for core subject areas. The middle school model for sixth-grade students would look similar to what is already employed at the middle schools.

Officials said there may be exceptions for students with an Individualized Education Plan. That would mean fifth-grade and sixth-grade teachers won’t have to obtain additional licensure after the school buildings are reconfigured.

Board President Chris Boyes questioned the point of making the proposed changes.

“I thought one of the main reasons that we needed to put [grades] five and six in the same building was curriculum-wise, [grades] five and six just isn’t geared towards K-4,” Boyes said. “And curriculum-wise, [grade] six just isn’t geared towards [grades] 7-8. But we’re going to split them into these same buildings and then run everything exactly the same for both grade groups as if they were in those other buildings. So, I guess, what’s the point?”

Sarah Montgomery, the district’s director of teaching and learning for secondary, said it’s not the same scenario.

“But it’s also about the experiences in bringing in some of the other special classes that they can access – music, art, P.E., and other things – that we can explore," Montgomery said.

Boyes questioned the reconfiguration plan and whether middle school class sizes would see a reduction if grades 7-8 were in one building instead of two.

“I just don’t get how shoving two full grade levels into one building is going to reduce the strain on Huntley trying to schedule those same things,” Boyes said.

Jessica Nall, the district’s assessment coordinator, disputed that idea.

“We would be adding about 100 students total to Huntley [Middle], and 10 classrooms will be vacated ... when the [Early Learning Development Center] building construction is complete and our youngest students move across town to that donated land.”

In 2023, the school board accepted a donation from the family of Raymond and Frances Katz for land at the southwest corner of Dresser and Normal roads.

Officials have said elementary class sizes would not be impacted by reconfiguring the middle schools.

The district spent about $33 million to build Mitchell Elementary School, hoping to reduce class sizes and establish a neighborhood school in a densely concentrated area where many students had no school buildings previously.

Some called into question how the district’s athletics may be impacted under Vision For28.

Hueramo said that if building configurations stay the same, there may be fewer opportunities for some to participate in athletics or activities at Huntley Middle School.

“Just for example, if I’m a basketball player and I’m average, I might not be able to participate, but if I was at [Clinton] Rosette, I’d be able to participate because there’s probably less students trying out,” Hueramo said. “I know it’s not all about athletics and activities. It’s about academics as well.”

The district is eying an April 26 timeline to start the design process. In doing so, plans for reducing secondary class sizes in the district could take effect by 2028.

If no action is taken, officials said they foresee more students attending Huntley Middle School than Clinton Rosette Middle School.

Officials have said Founders Elementary School is not suited for elementary as it is.

Tammy Carson, the district’s director of facility and safety operations, said a delayed board decision could put the district behind schedule by a year and may call for more funding.

Officials said the district is planning to use fund balance and revenue generated from the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone to pay for such building improvements.

There are three scenarios with different price tags in which the district envisions carrying out Vision For28, according to district documents. They range in value from as low as $6.6 million to as high as $27 million.

Some, like Board members Steve Byers and Nick Atwood, urged caution.

Byers said he doesn’t want to see the district act out of haste.

“We want to get everything we can that we can get, and if we stretch it out a little bit, I think that’s a great idea,” Byers said. “We want to make sure, too, we’re not making snap decisions on some things just because we’re going to push the big decision down the road, because we are hoping to get this more money.”

Atwood said he wonders if there are other funding options the district could consider.

“It’s an amazing plan, but I just want to be like, ‘Would we all benefit from pumping the brakes a little bit?” Atwood said.

More discussion on this topic is expected at the board’s April 7 meeting.