A referendum to finance changes in school district 428 will be on the Feb. 5 ballot in DeKalb.

Yard signs have begun popping up around town and the school district held public meetings, one of which was at the Egyptian Theater Jan. 7.

DeKalb resident Pat Bragg attended the Egyptian Theater public forum and said no one seems directly against the referendum; rather, people have questions about the wisdom of spending such a large amount of money.

“They’ve already spent a lot of money on preliminary work, just preliminary work,” Bragg said.

Bragg also questions how involved community members have been, saying none of the people she spoke with were involved in the process.

However, Superintendent Paul Beilfuss said surveys and meetings with community members showed a largely positive response.

“Sixty-nine percent of the community voted in favor of building a new school,” Beilfuss said.

Beilfuss spoke at a joint meeting of school board and city council members in October 2007.

This referendum is for the first phase of a two-phase project intended to first expand the number of students the district can serve and then bring equality to all schools within the district, said school board president Mike Verbic.

Only the expansion will be financed by the Feb. 5 referendum. Voters will cast another ballot later to approve additional spending to address equity issues.

District 428’s Web site features a calculator homeowners may use to calculate the dollar amount the referendum will add to their annual tax bills. For example, a owner of a house with an assessed value of $200,000 will see an increase of $272 per year.