Decatur Public Schools exploring new school in Lincoln Park

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DECATUR — Decatur school district leaders are in talks with the Decatur Park District about potentially building a new facility in Lincoln Park on the city’s west side.

In a statement issued Monday, the district said it is exploring replacing the district’s oldest buildings, Dennis Lab School’s dual campus facilities. The Illinois General Assembly granted a waiver on April 9 that would allow the district to build a new school using federal pandemic relief funds, it said.

“The use of federal funds to pay for a new school building will not impact the local tax levy,” the district said. “Seeking this authority streamlined the process for building the new DPS facility and will assist the District in meeting the stringent timeline of grant funding.”

State law allows school districts to build without a referendum if half or more of the project’s funding comes from sales tax. The district said it asked lawmakers to apply the same concept using federal funds, including Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER, or more commonly known as CARES) grant funds, of which the district received over $76 million.

The announcement comes after weeks of rumors about the deal. A final decision has not been made, the district said.

Dennis School was expanded to two campuses during the 2020-21 school year as part of the BOLD Facilities Plan created under former Superintendent Paul Fregeau. They are Mosaic, the original building at 1499 W. Main St., and Kaleidoscope, in the former French Academy building at 520 W. Wood St.

The original Dennis building was not big enough to serve all the students within the school’s boundary and the school had a long waiting list, forcing re-assignment of students to other district buildings.

Grades 2,3,6,7 and 8 are housed at the Mosaic Campus and grades Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1, 4, and 5 are at the Kaleidoscope Campus. The staff chose this configuration to allow older students to act as mentors to younger ones at each building.

Dennis is a “lab” school, with partnerships with Millikin University and Illinois State University. Using a model of project-based learning, students apply lessons learned in the classroom to hands-on experiences.

The district’s full statement is below:

“On April 9, 2022, District #61 was granted a waiver by the Illinois General Assembly giving DPS the authority to build a new school using federal pandemic relief funds. DPS is in discussions about building a new facility to replace District 61’s oldest school buildings, Dennis Lab School’s dual campus facilities. DPS has considered several locations for a new school facility. In partnership with the Decatur Park District, District 61 is currently considering a portion of the Lincoln Park area. However, no final decision has been made.

“State statute currently allows school districts the authority to build without a referendum if 50 percent or more of the project’s funding comes from sales tax. DPS and another district petitioned the legislature to apply this same concept to using federal funds and it was approved. These funds include Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER, or more commonly known as CARES) grant funds, of which District 61 has received $76,304,698. The use of federal funds to pay for a new school building will not impact the local tax levy. Seeking this authority streamlined the process for building the new DPS facility and will assist the District in meeting the stringent timeline of grant funding.

“We will, of course, keep our families and community updated if a decision is made to move forward with a new school building.”