The Champaign School Board now holds options on eight sites near Central High School, which doesn't mean Unit 4 will necessarily purchase the properties, but has an 18-month window to decide.  An advisory committee is being formed that will meet almost weekly, discussing possible expansion in the area, with a report due in May.

Laurie Bonnett's last meeting with the Champaign School Board is Monday.  The former Unit Four board president, who's moving out of town, says she hopes to see a more collaborative strucuture in the future of school facilities, and believes the board can benefit from the high rate of turnover of late, bringing new and innovative ideas.

Laurie Bonnett, who led the Unit Four School Board during two failed facilities referenda, is stepping down from the board, to move with her family to Pittsburgh.

Champaign Unit 4 school board members Monday unanimously approved a new $144-million bond issue for the April ballot, which keeps the same plan for a new Central High School, but includes a new Dr. Howard Elementary.