CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Families in the Unit 4 School District might face some big changes. The Board of Education heard proposals Monday night that would change the schools of choice process.

Board members say the city is segregated by socio-economic status, but they want to keep each school diverse. That’s why the district hired Cooperative Strategies – a consulting group that has been studying the region’s demographics for the past year.

Monday night, they presented their findings. Based on population and geography in Champaign, they offered several solutions – including pairing or clustering certain schools together. They said it could be a tough transition for students who would have to change schools, but one board member said it’s important to de-segregate them.

“I hate that this is going to be very disruptive – this is going to be very hard for people. But I think we really want to keep in mind number one: we’re doing this for the good of our students. And number two: long term, maybe we want to think about ways that we can de-segregate our city,” board member Kathy Shannon said.

They also suggested eliminating the balanced calendar for Kenwood and Barkstall – which would bring all schools onto the same calendar, and allow one to two months each year for people to apply for schools at the same time.

Nothing was decided Monday night, but the board said they want to hear from members of the community. They’re doing a survey. If you’re interested in looking at all of the possibilities presented, click here.