DeKalb school’s $155M spending plan includes new school renovations, more staff

The DeKalb School District 428 Board took a first look at its Fiscal 2026 budget this week.

Armir Doka, the district’s director of finance and business, briefed school officials on the district’s financial standing. With expenditures projected at approximately $155.1 million and revenues at $156.6 million, the district anticipates a surplus of roughly $1.5 million, school board documents show.

Doka said the district does not have final numbers to provide to the board for inspection as of Tuesday, though more will be known as budget season continues.

“The budget numbers that we’re giving actually might change between Aug. 5 and Sept. 16 because at that time, we might have a little bit more understanding new grants coming in,” Doka said. “We’ll have more understanding of our enrollment. We’ll have more understanding of how many students are actually signing up for our transportation or signing up for some classes.”

It’s not yet known what the 2025 property tax burden will be for DeKalb schools’ portion of a resident’s bill.

“These numbers will not change much, but I will let you know whatever adjustments will be in the next few meetings as well,” Doka said.

The budget includes funding for, among other things, new elementary school renovations and construction and additional staffing.

Doka said it’s not likely that the district will be able to capitalize on a property tax relief grant for Fiscal 2026, as it has done in years past. He said the district was lucky for the past three years to have received this state assistance. Officials also don’t yet know how, if any, federal cuts will impact local school programs such as school lunch, transportation, grants handed out based on student need and more.

Board member Nick Atwood said he’s pleased to hear where the district stands financially speaking.

“I think it’s nice that we’re in a good position, even if we’re going to be losing federal funds,” Atwood said. “A lot of other districts might be worse off than us because we’re continuing to see this new money coming in and this new revenue that we can offset some of those expenditures.”

The board anticipates holding a public hearing to invite resident comment on the district’s Fiscal 2026 tentative budget at its Aug. 6 meeting.

Final budget adoption is expected in September.