Huntley Middle School choir classroom eyed as DeKalb District 428 leaders ponder over space needs

DeKALB – After nixing a proposal that would have relocated the band program, DeKalb District 428 leaders could be looking to move the choir program from the classroom it usually occupies at Huntley Middle School to the stage in the auditorium.

The school board’s decision this week lays the groundwork for the district to consider repurposing several buildings and renovations to HVAC, walls, ceilings, electrical and flooring.

In a 6-0 vote, members of the school board moved ahead with the district’s larger plan of seeking solutions to create more space in DeKalb schools. Board member Jeromy Olson was absent.

Tammy Carson, the district’s director of facility and safety operations, said that since the last time the school board met, the proposal concerning Huntley Middle School has been modified.

Originally, a request was initiated by district leadership to relocate the band program to make room for a second lunch room.

About half the building’s students are in the auditorium during lunch time, officials said. The district intends to place students in a space more conducive to having lunch.

Board member Sarah Moses questioned how staff in the Fine Arts Department feels about the proposed change.

“Does this satisfy their concerns?” Moses asked.

Carson expressed optimism about the choir teacher’s willingness to work with district leadership to ensure a transition, if approved, goes smoothly.

“[The choir teacher] expressed that it is was something he could work with and understands that because of the needs of the building, that you have to do some things that you wouldn’t necessarily choose to do,” Carson said. “But he felt he could make that work.”

Carson said the choir teacher plans to present the administration with a list of needs – whether it’s storage or tech-related – for the district to address once bid results come in and should choir programming be relocated.

It remains unclear how relocating choir classes may disrupt programming, if at all.

Action taken by the school board this week is not the final word on the matter but rather directs the district’s administration to go out to bid for several projects.

The DeKalb School District 428 leadership has identified the need to create more space for students and staff in five of the district’s buildings, school board documents show. Upgrades are in talks at Cortland and Malta elementary schools, Huntley and Clinton Rosette middle schools and the Early Learning Development Center.

The district intends to pay for building upgrades with funding from the operations and maintenance budget for 2022-23 and 2023-24, according to school board documents. Further information on the bid results is expected to be presented to the school board in the spring.

The building improvement projects carry an estimated price tag of $1,000,935, according to school board documents.

Carson stressed that members of the school board will have multiple opportunities to weigh in on the matter before bids need to be awarded.

“It will be designed in a way we’ll have options to be able to approve and deny certain ones,” Carson said. “It won’t be an all-or-nothing package brought forward at the time bids are received.”