DeKalb board unveils proposed 2025 attendance boundaries; small group of families would be bused across town

The DeKalb CUSD 428 Board of Education on Tuesday reviewed a proposed redraw of elementary attendance areas tied to the district's new Mitchell Elementary and will return the plan for action on Feb. 4, district staff said.

District demographer Dr. Mark Cochran told the board the map-drawing process used 2024 student records, updated birth data and building capacity numbers provided by a facilities consultant. Staff said the proposal prioritizes proximity and keeping neighborhoods intact and that about 450 students would move into the new Mitchell building when it opens in 2025-26.

"We are centering neighborhood schools. That is our priority," Monica Parker, director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, told the board as staff summarized changes and community feedback. Parker and Dr. Cochran said the district held multiple mapping sessions with principals, cabinet members and community meetings before publishing the draft map.

The proposal also places a small, dense cluster of addresses—two apartment buildings in a compact block—in a single school assignment that means roughly 71 students living in that pocket would not be within walking distance of Mitchell and would be assigned to a different school. That grouping prompted repeated concern from board members who said the outcome conflicts with earlier public messaging about Mitchell as a neighborhood school.

"That's where I have a concern because it goes against everything that was talked about for this school," Board member Amanda Harness said during the discussion.

Board staff explained the assignments were driven by capacity constraints: Mitchell has finite space and staff said moving existing students from other buildings was necessary to bring the new school into balance without dramatically overcrowding neighboring elementary schools. Staff estimated the proposed map could reduce the district's bus routes by about 10 routes because many students who are now bused would be within walking distance of the new Mitchell site; they also cautioned that detailed route and cost effects depend on final registration.

Staff said several categories of students would be treated as exceptions to the boundary drawing: students in the dual-language two-way program are expected to remain in their existing program placements; students in self-contained special-education programs will continue to attend the program site that serves them rather than being reassigned by neighborhood lines; and McKinney-Vento (homeless) placements will be handled under federal law—including options to remain at a student's school of origin when appropriate.

Resident Dr. Jason Reed used the public-participation period earlier in the meeting to ask the board to allow students currently enrolled at Jefferson Elementary who would fall into the Mitchell attendance area to remain at Jefferson. "Four years of excellence at Jefferson Elementary...I would strongly encourage the board to at least allow individuals who would have the decision or opportunity to go to Mitchell to consider letting the students currently enrolled there matriculate," Reed said.

Superintendent and staff said the boundary proposal is posted publicly and that the Feb. 4 action date is driven by the registration system and the need to publish official attendance areas before families enroll for next school year. They said staff will continue outreach, and promised additional analysis on bus routing, special-education placements and impacts on families before final board action.

Next steps: staff will return to the board Feb. 4 with the recommended attendance areas for a final vote, and the district will begin direct communication with impacted households pending board action.