Vacant D-428 Chesebro Elementary building could turn into therapeutic day program facility

DeKALB – The former Chesebro Elementary School building that's been vacant for about 10 years could get a new life as a facility for therapeutic day care for DeKalb students.

The DeKalb School District 428 Board will consider whether to lease the building at 900 E. Garden St. to the Menta Group, a non-profit that operates out of Illinois and Arizona to serve students with special needs that require varying levels of therapeutic support. On Tuesday, the board issued preliminary approval of the partnership, and will hold a formal vote Feb. 4.

In 2011, the Chesebro building was closed when DeKalb High School opened, according to district documents. Since that time, it's been used to store furniture, equipment and curriculum supplies.

A decade later, the roof is in dire need of replacement, said Tammy Carson, District 428 director of facility operations, estimated to cost $550,000, and additional repairs needed to get the building ready for special education programs are estimated to be $3.3 million including the roof.

The district would pay $2.5 million, and Menta would cover the rest of the renovation costs, documents show.

One solution is to partner with Menta o develop the building into a facility for their services, and split the cost of roof repair. Specific details regarding the lease agreement would be finalized after the repair bids are obtained, documents show.

The district currently has 36 students in Menta's therapeutic day program, documents show, which utilize Menta's Aurora facility. If the plan to partner with the Chesebro building came to fruition, DeKalb students could go there.

The district also would weigh whether to open up the DeKalb Menta Group facility to surrounding districts, documents show.

Proposed programs which Menta would relocate to the Chesebro facility if approved include a number of K-12 special education initiatives, documents show.

The timeline of the project is dependent on the bid and construction approvals, but if all goes to plan, the Menta Group would be in the building by January 2021, documents show.