Leaders from DeKalb School District 428 took the next step recently in an ambitious plan to build a new home for pre-kindergarten learning, which they said would also provide more space for a growing middle school student population by reconfiguring what buildings fifth through eighth graders attend.

Under the proposal – which hasn’t yet been finalized – the district would build a new Early Learning Development Center for preschool students. And then three existing buildings – Founders Elementary and the two middle schools, Clinton Rosette and Huntley – would be reorganized to house the district’s middle school grade levels.

DeKalb’s early learning space – which has a waiting list of 98 students, officials have said – currently is in the Huntley Middle School building. Under the plan, the preschoolers could move to their own new and bigger building. That would free up space in Huntley, which would transition to teach only seventh and eighth graders districtwide, officials said. Clinton Rosette and Founders Elementary could be reconfigured to teach only fifth and sixth graders districtwide. And elementary schools would be K-4.

District officials have said they intend to build a new early learning center, if approved by the school board, without putting a funding referendum on the ballot for voters.

But not all are in favor of the district’s proposal, specifically questioning why language in the proposed votes tied the new preschool build to the grade reconfiguration plan.

DeKalb resident Keith Cameron said he doesn’t believe the approval process for either has been transparent.

“This reminds me of a terrible TV show that I love to watch right now, which is called ‘Love Is Blind,’” Cameron said. “You’re asking us to sign onto an agreement without actually seeing anything, no details. So yes, I’m comparing you to one of the most sloppiest Netflix shows at this point in time, because that is the treatment that I feel like you are giving the community.”

Up for school board consideration were two resolutions: One to commit funds to build the new ELDC – district documents cite “primarily” through property tax revenue expected to come from Meta’s DeKalb Data Center “supplemented by state funds.”

A second resolution proposed greenlighting early learning center construction alongside “related improvements for grade re-configuration to existing buildings,” documents state. A final vote on that resolution is not expected until Nov. 18.

The first resolution was passed unanimously Nov. 11. Board member Vanta Bynum was absent. The vote outlined plans to pay for the estimated $42.8 million early learning center off Dresser and Normal Roads by using property tax revenue collected through industry that’s in DeKalb County’s Enterprise Zone.

An enterprise zone is a geographical area in which businesses may receive tax benefits and other incentives to help spur new economic growth.

District calculations project that DeKalb District 428 will collect about $19.1 million in 2025 property taxes from the data center, on top of $7.1 million collected in 2024. The district also earmarked $26.2 million for the center, documents show, which also cite plans to use tax revenue to pay for the new preschool “without raising home taxes.” They also cite property tax revenue from other industry in the enterprise zone, like DeKalb’s Kraft Heinz facility.

Resident Scott Oesterlin said he also doesn’t see why plans for the early learning development center are being tied to a middle school reconfiguration proposal. District officials previously said a new preschool means freeing up space to spread out middle schoolers to more classrooms, reducing large classroom sizes.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Oesterlin said. “It’s not transparent in any way, shape, or form,” Oesterlin said. “I’d just like to know why and what will be done to rectify it to make it transparent, so everybody’s aware of where the dollars are being spent.”

Board President Chris Boyes asked if separating the two measures – a new preschool and middle school grade restructuring – could deter the district’s larger plans.

“Would that impact your ability to build ELDC?” Boyes said.

Tammy Carson, the district’s director of facility and safety operations, said no.

The district still intends to seek public input on how to proceed with reconfiguring middle school class sizes.

“They are not specifically tied together,” Carson said. “It is all part of the five-year [plan].”

Before Mitchell Elementary School was built, the district solicited public input on redrawing elementary school boundary lines, including at two public meetings in December 2024 and two in January. During an October 2024 community conversation, the district also previewed that boundary lines may be changing.

The district has yet to host any public forums specifically dedicated to discussing its plans for reconfiguring the middle schools, to date.

But the reconfiguration proposal was first floated by the district last month to reorganize which buildings hold fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students.

No decision on the grade reconfiguration has been made yet, however.

Officials have said DeKalb doesn’t have enough pre-K learning spaces in district limits. So they’re working to address facility needs to better support more children expected to enter the school district when they come of age.

DeKalb’s Early Learning Development Center has 10 classrooms at Huntley Middle School. If a new building comes to be, the new preschool would include 24 classrooms.

Board member Kristin Bailey wanted clarification on the resolutions before voting.

She said it was her understanding that reducing middle school class sizes was “part of the decision that we were approving the proposal” for, referring to the ELDC build.

“I don’t know that those should be bundled together,” Board President Chris Boyes said. “I’m still in full support of both of them, to be clear, but I don’t know that it makes sense that they’re the same thing. We can build an ELDC without doing the rest.”

Superintendent Minerva Garcia-Sanchez said a vote for both would allow the district to move forward with examining funding options for a preschool build and also needed changes to Huntley Middle School if grade reconfiguration begins.

“The purpose of the funding is initially for ELDC,” Garcia-Sanchez said. “However, funding for additional changes into the HMS, into everything else is also using the same funding style that we would like to be able to do. If we are successful in being able to fund the ELDC and the changes and making sure that building is full, then we would like to continue that same process to be able to build out the rest of the plan.”

Armir Doka, the district’s director of finance and business, urged the board to support the early learning center funding plan.

“We just need to ensure the public that these funds are not going to be touched, that they’re going to be dedicated exclusively to ELDC,” Doka said.

Doka said the board’s decision to earmark property tax revenue for the early learning center helps create a pathway for the district to look at different financing options.

“Once this is approved, we will commit this money so that it doesn’t get mixed in with the operational fund balance,” Doka said.

The school board is expected to vote on another resolution Nov. 18, though it could look different by then. Some board members recommended amending the resolution before a final vote so that the ask – authorizing permission to look into the building of a new preschool, and authorizing grade reconfiguration – are not included in the same vote.