Champaign School District Dedicates Site For School in Savoy

In the fall of 2012, students attending Champaign's Carrie Busey Elementary will be going to class in Savoy.

Unit 4 board members and village officials held a dedication ceremony Tuesday at the future site of Carrie Busey Elementary School, in Savoy's expanding Prairie Fields subdivision. Champaign Superintendent Arthur Culver says the neighborhood is well prepared for a school, with an adjoining park, and streets for accommodating buses. "People like to go that's close in proximity to their homes," said Culver. "People will be excited, it will be less of a burden on transportation on the folks that live in Savoy, and of course, everybody's always excited about getting a brand new, LEED certified, state-of-the-art educational facility."

Unit 4 school Board President Dave Tomlinson credits the passage of the countywide sales tax referendum for getting the school built. He says it will also create about $80 million in construction jobs between the new Carrie Busey and renovations at other school buildings. All staff and most students from the existing Carrie Busey elementary are expected to transfer to the new school. Once it's built, the current building will serve as a transitional center while renovations at other Unit 4 schools take place.

Savoy Village President Robert McCleary says the wider streets and park in that neighborhood are ready to accommodate school buses, and more than 400 students. "As a long-term resident of this area, a lot of the old infrastructure at Central (High School) and Edison downtown (Champaign), something will have to be done," said McCleary. "So in a lot of communities, they move that sort of stuff out to the outside edge of the communities. And Savoy's definitely on the edge of the community." Carrie Busey is a 'three strand' elementary school, with three sections of each grade level from kindergarten through 5th grade. Construction on the new school starts next summer. Work is expected to wrap up by July of 2012.