DeKalb City Council held a special session Monday night with the Board of Education, DeKalb County School District 428.

The meeting gave council members a chance to learn how the Feb. 5 referendum to finance considerable overhaul of the district’s schools is shaping up.

Board President Mike Verbic said the final amount taxpayers would be asked to approve on the referendum has not been finalized.

The two-year process leading up to the referendum involved recommendations from the Facility Planning Commission, input from citizen groups and community surveys.

“Sixty-nine percent of the community voted in favor of building a new high school,” said Superintendent Paul Beilfuss. “Seventy percent supported major renovations at the middle school.”

If approved in February, the first phase in the two-phase, 10-year plan will involve building a new high school and shifting students in lower grade levels to a different building to accommodate an expanding student population.

Verbic said the second phase will address equity issues throughout the district.
In turn, the council provided information on commercial and residential growth in the school district.

City Manager Mark Biernacki spoke to board members about local growth, saying commercial development in the city is down compared to previous years.

“There are some bright spots,” said Biernacki, citing development at Glidden Crossings and continued growth at 3M.

He said levels of housing development are normal and single-family homes began to outpace multifamily homes in 2002.

The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 6.

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