The former NIU School of Nursing building on Normal Road is set to be converted into a DeKalb District 428 elementary school. (District 428 photo)

Planning is well underway for a new DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 neighborhood school on the city’s north side, repurposing a former Northern Illinois University facility.

The district approved a lease-to-purchase agreement totaling $1.86 million in July to acquire the former NIU School of Nursing building as part of a $33 million plan to revamp the building.

The site, located on the southeast corner of Normal Road and Ridge Drive, would welcome elementary school students for the 2025-26 school year and would include around 70,000 square feet of space.

“More than 32 percent of the district’s elementary students live in this area, yet they must be bused to schools throughout the district,” said  Superintendent Minerva Garcia-Sanchez. “Families here have been asking for decades to be heard about their desire to have a neighborhood school that helps remove barriers to learning, increases the ability of families to be more present in their children’s school and activities, and paves the way for a more successful educational experience overall.”

The district held the first in a series of five community conversations about the project on Aug. 30, with another to come on Oct. 26.

Initial design plans call for an elementary school expansion option to renovate and expand the existing building to create a three-section elementary school.

“The opportunity to consider acquiring the nursing building from NIU came at a pivotal time for the District and allowed us increased flexibility to be more proactive and responsive to the needs of families in an area where we knew there were barriers to learning,” Samantha McDavid, former board of education president, said earlier this year prior to her July resignation from the board.
The decision comes after meetings with the Finance Facilities Advisory Committee (FFAC) and the greater community.

An in-depth analysis of multiple options, including the construction of a new building on vacant land, was reviewed with a focus on what options would effectively address class size concerns at the elementary level and provide for a neighborhood school in an identified area of need.

Updates to Huntley Middle School and the expansion of the Early Learning Childhood Center were also included in financial forecasts that will be completed as a second-phase project.

“The District and our community partners have dedicated significant time and attention to this effort to present a fiscally responsible and timely solution that, first and foremost, focuses on serving the needs of our children and families,” said Cindy Carpenter, co-director of business and finance for the District. “The fact that we can incorporate the project costs within the district’s budget without requesting additional dollars from our taxpayers was also critically important,” said Carpenter.

The impact on all elementary schools with the addition of the new three-section building will be a reduction in classroom sizes from 28 to 25 students. This is a priority supported by the Board of Education from the Class Size Committee recommendation in May 2021 to “provide sufficient staff to lower the threshold from 28 to 25 students for grades K-5 and 35 to 30 students for Grades 6-12 when facilities and budgets allow.”

Existing school boundaries will be adjusted prior to the opening of the new school based on the current demographic and population data at that time.