Champaign Unit 4 voters delivered a decisive verdict on the district's $192 million Building Better Schools referendum, approving the measure by a wide margin on Tuesday. The plan clears the way for a new middle school, a rebuilt Franklin STEAM Academy, and campus upgrades across several district buildings.
The referendum passed with 21,395 votes in favor, or 66.5 percent, against 10,780 opposed, according to The News-Gazette. The measure authorizes the district to issue $192 million in bonds for school construction, renovation and other improvements, per IPM Newsroom. Champaign Unit 4 School District expressed gratitude to the community for weighing in on the future of its schools, according to NewsChannel20.
What the Money Will Build
The approved plan covers a long list of projects: rebuilding Franklin STEAM Academy, remodeling Jefferson Middle School, adding a fourth middle school, investing $13 million in special-education upgrades, and making health and life-safety improvements at Garden Hills and International Prep academies, the News-Gazette reported. Those same health and life-safety needs at both Garden Hills and International Prep were also flagged as priorities in the district's own referendum materials.
Breaking down the spending further, the plan allocates $26 million to health and life safety, $13 million to special-education improvements, and $153 million to middle schools, according to a report from CU-CitizenAccess. District administrators have described Unit 4's middle schools as overcrowded and in need of updates and expansions, the same outlet's earlier reporting through IPM Newsroom noted.
No Tax Rate Increase, District Says
Unit 4 has said the referendum would not raise annual tax rates, because the financing plan relies on debt-service capacity freed up as existing bonds are paid off, according to IPM Newsroom. The district's prior building push offers a cautionary backdrop: Unit 4's 2016 school-building project ultimately cost $65 million, or 31 percent, more than its original total project budget, per CU-CitizenAccess. That same 2022 update put the final cost of Central High School's renovation at $104.5 million, compared with an initial estimate of $87.1 million.
A Smoother Path to Approval
This referendum's path to the ballot box looked markedly different from Unit 4's last nine-figure ask. The district's previous major referendum effort took three tries and several rewrites before passing, while this measure was announced in August and approved less than three months later, the News-Gazette reported.
Vote totals reported Tuesday night were not final. The Champaign County results page noted its numbers were unofficial and would be updated as additional ballots were counted, per IPM Newsroom. A separate account from The Daily Illini said county tallies were based on a 10:12 p.m. report, and that official results may take additional time to finalize since Illinois accepts mail-in ballots postmarked before Election Day.
