DeKalb High School will continue to see its number of students increase beyond its capacity in the near future.

The district has experienced an average 2 percent student growth rate over the past four years, said School Board President Tom Teresinski. This year the school will see a higher growth rate, estimated at about 4 percent.

The increasing growth rate has led to the high school, 1515 S. Fourth St., being over capacity.

There are problems with overcrowding in the high school, said MeriAnn Besonen, district assistant superintendent for business and finance. The school is already over its 1,400 student capacity, with about 1,500 students total.

The numbers are only expected to rise during the next few years.

“We think it’ll be up in the 1,600s by the time it levels off,” Besonen said. “The classes that are coming in [are] about 400 to 425 students. This year’s graduating class is at about 350.”

The district has considered a number of options to solve the overcrowding problems at the high school.

Building a new high school would cost the district about $43 million, Besonen said. The district does not have that type of money, so changes with the current school system will be looked at first.

The high school is hoping to return to an eight-period schedule, said Superintendent Paul Beilfuss. This would eliminate split periods that decrease the number of classrooms available in the middle of the day.

Growth in outlying communities has been one factor in the increase in the number of students in the district.

Recent growth, including annexations on residential developments in the Cortland and Malta communities, is one reason for the surge in district numbers, Beilfuss said.

In DeKalb, the district has existing pre-annexation agreements with the city.

“When new development plans are applied for, we route them to the school district,” said DeKalb City Planner Ray Keller. “We urge developers to talk to the district about things like impact fees, land and money that will be issued. I think we have a good working relationship.”

It is not the new developments that are causing the most confusion, however.

“We can get a pretty good idea on the number of students coming to us from homes that have been approved or developed,” Beilfuss said. “The wildcard is the turnover in other homes, and the selling of older houses to families with children. It’s hard to predict the turnover and the effects of turnover.”

Keller agreed. Some older neighborhoods in the district seem to be going through a cycle of renewing and replenishment as younger families with children move into existing homes, he said.

Whatever the case, the district knows they need to find new ways to accommodate the increasing number of students.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do. You have to be ready for them,” Besonen said. “The community has been really good with us and everybody knows the situation.”