DeKalb District 428′s request for modular classroom to remain at Littlejohn Elementary receives initial OK

DeKALB – A DeKalb panel this week supported a bid by DeKalb School District 428 to allow a modular classroom to remain on site at Littlejohn Elementary School for two more years.

Action taken in a 6-0 vote Monday by the DeKalb Planning and Zoning Commission, if upheld by the DeKalb City Council, allows the leadership in District 428 schools to plan for the elimination of the modular classroom in two years, when it is anticipated that a new elementary school planned for the city’s north side will come on line. Commissioner Bill McMahon was absent.

DeKalb District 428′s school board in March approved a $31.8 million plan to turn the former Northern Illinois University School of Nursing building, 1240 Normal Road, into a new elementary school by 2025. District officials said the need arose due to overcrowded classrooms as enrollment climbs in DeKalb.

“It’s in my neighborhood. It’s been fine for years. It’ll be good not to have one because that’s better for everybody in the school.”

—  DeKalb Planning and Zoning Commissioner Trixy O’Flaherty

The DeKalb City Council still needs to have a say on the district’s request to extend the special permit for two additional years.

Tammy Carson, District 428′s director of facility and safety operations, asked the city to support the district’s request.

“We’re asking for the extension as we are still in use of the school,” Carson said Monday.

The modular classroom at Littlejohn is a two-unit space comprised of a music room and a Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) room, according to city documents.

The district’s special use permit, which ordinarily would allow the modular classroom at Littlejohn School, expires in June, city officials said.

At the same time, the district is in the process of designing a new school, which school officials said will open by August 2025.

The space issues noted in DeKalb schools are not exclusive to Littlejohn School.

“We have capacity issues throughout our entire district,” Carson said.

Carson said the district plans to undergo redistricting districtwide to better address space issues.

The district has made it a goal to reduce classes from an average of 28 to 25 students, school officials said.

At the time of the new school’s opening, the district intends to remove all modular classrooms except the one at Lincoln Elementary School, school officials said.

The city had received two letters of support in reference to the modular classroom, to date.

One supporter, however, did seek more information about the school district’s request.

City Planner Dan Olson urged the panel to support the district’s request.

“The classroom has not caused any negative impact to the neighborhood,” Olson said. “It’s been there since 2017. It’s in the same location.”

Commissioner Trixy O’Flaherty echoed that sentiment.

“It’s in my neighborhood,” O’Flaherty said. “It’s been fine for years. It’ll be good not to have one because that’s better for everybody in the school.”