Gardner
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CHAMPAIGN — One of the longest stays in the Champaign Central principal’s office will be followed by one of the shortest.
Montia Gardner, who a year ago next week was promoted to succeed the retiring Joe Williams as principal of the area’s largest high school, will resign from that position, effective June 30, according to a list of personnel changes attached to Monday’s Unit 4 board agenda.
In a statement issued to The News-Gazette on behalf of the district Friday, Unit 4 chief communications officer Stacey Moore said: “Dr. Montia Gardner will not be returning to Champaign Central High School next school year. Unit 4 appreciates her service over the past several years and wishes her well as she pursues other opportunities. The district remains committed to working with Dr. Gardner to ensure the current school year finishes strong.”
Gardner was appointed to the top job at Central on the 24th day of Black History Month last year, becoming the high school’s first African American principal.
A throng of supporters cheered the news at that February 2025 school board meeting, where an emotional Gardner spoke of the path paved by her grandmother, the first African American janitor at a high school in Gary, Ind., and promised to make Central a “positive and inclusive learning environment, where all students feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their full potential.”
Gardner arrived in Champaign in the winter of 2022, serving as Central’s assistant principal, then associate principal, under Williams, who retired last summer after leading the high school for 17 years.
The position has already been posted on the district’s job board, with a salary of $142,639.
Also listed: the principal’s job at Robeson Elementary, which is being filled on an interim basis this school year by Joanne Schnelle.