DeKalb School District 428 board questioned about new elementary school budget, design

DeKALB – Plans for a new elementary school could cost DeKalb School District 428 more to design and renovate than its school board originally budgeted, officials said.

The district plans to renovate the single-story 24,000 square-foot building so it may better suit its needs as a three-section elementary school.

It wasn’t until recently that the district secured the ownership rights to Northern Illinois University’s School of Nursing building, 1240 Normal Road.

But space issues are nothing new to DeKalb schools.

Mary Lynn Buckner, a longtime DeKalb resident and teacher who sits on the district’s new elementary school design committee, urged the school board at a recent meeting to support the request for added funding.

“We’re a tiny bit above budget from what we originally asked for,” Buckner said. “We’re hoping you’ll consider that for tonight.”

The district acquired the School of Nursing building from NIU in March.

Since that time, the district’s new elementary design committee has been convening meetings, officials said.

Tammy Carson, District 428′s director of safety and facility operations, said there’s been fluctuation regarding square footage and what should go into the building.

“We originally started at a 66,000 square-foot building at $29.96 million,” Carson said. “It went up to a $36 million building at 75,000 square feet down to 70,000 with some tweaks from the committee. Now, we’re at this point coming forth with a building of 70,100 square feet and approximately $33.85 million.”

Carson pointed to the new $33.85 million price tag, saying there are a few pieces not included in the original budget, which affected that and those total out to $1.15 million.

“The $1.15 [million] includes that upon further inspection after we did agree to acquire the building of a roof inspection,” Carson said. “It’s determined it would be to our best benefit to replace the roof at this time. If we do not, it is going to be something we’re going to have to do in the near future because it is near the end of life. We’re going to be putting new rooftop units on this building and it’s best we address that at that time. But that did increase by approximately $500,000 for a new roof.”

In addition, the budget includes an outside classroom pavilion that was brought forth as a suggestion by the new elementary school design committee for staff to be able to utilize.

Carson noted a $200,000 expenditure that was not in the original plan.

The city of DeKalb also made some suggestions to the district’s plan with respect to retention ponds, access to existing streets and traffic in general, which Carson said contributed to the new elementary school’s budget increasing by about $450,000.

Board member Christopher Boyes questioned the committee’s recommendation, saying something has to give.

“How did we buy a building and not know it would need $500,000 in roof repairs before we bought it? That seems like a huge oversight on our part,” Boyes said.

He also questioned $450,000 in the city’s revisions to the plan.

“That’s like a complete overhaul of the plan,” Boyes said. “So, I guess I’m just wondering [why] we have not even started to do stuff yet. How do we know there’s not going to be another million next month?”

Carson tried to address Boyd’s concerns.

“Those are discussions that we didn’t have in play until we had approval to be able to move forward with the beginning of design because before we can have the architect really design this building in a level that it is now, talking about how the drop-off, pick-up, the bus, staff parking, those discussions don’t happen with the city until that point,” Carson said.

Carson added that the district knew there were concerns with the roof.

“It could be something that’s delayed and we knew that,” Carson said. “We talked about that at length at our committee level.”

Tiffney Parker, a member of the district’s new elementary school design committee, stressed to the school board the importance of adding the outside classroom pavilion to the new elementary school’s design budget.

“It was not a request or suggestion for luxury,” Parker said. “The purpose of that classroom more importantly was for safety of our children. For example, at the dismissal time, children are often standing outside with supervision, of course, but waiting for family to pick them up. That pavilion will provide a safe haven over their head to sit and wait comfortably as well as provide the space for staff and teachers to teach and assist in the open air.”

Jimmy Zucker, a longtime DeKalb resident and co-president of the DeKalb Federation of School Assistants, said he hopes the school board will agree to increase the new elementary school’s design budget.

“I urge the school board to consider our additions here. This will be a building that I myself and my colleagues are all looking to work at in the future,” Zucker said.

The district is still targeting an August 2025 opening date for the new elementary school, officials said.

Action on this matter is expected to take place at a future school board meeting.