CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) – Central High School is offering reprints and corrections of the 2024-25 yearbook after Israel was omitted from a world map in a section of the book.
In an email to students and their family members, Central Principal Joe Williams said the omission was intentional, but not approved by the school or the yearbook supervisor. Our newsroom obtain a copy of the letter, with apologies from Williams. “I understand the significance of this error and the hurt and offense it has caused some of our students and families,” Williams said. “An oversight of this nature is not reflective of our values or the educational experience we aim to provide.”
The map is on pages 32-33 in the “Cultures” section of the yearbook, highlighting Central students’ connections to other countries and cultures.
Williams said that once this omission was brought to the school’s attention other edits that were not approved were discovered. He said the school is working with the yearbook publishing company to create sticker pages of what the pages were supposed to look like, which will be mailed to families who received yearbooks.
The school will also be offering reprints to anyone who declines the sticker option, as long as the current yearbook is dropped off in the main office by June 13. Williams said the yearbook production process is under review to avoid similar incidents in the future.
The Champaign School Board has not released a statement with any indication if it was a faculty advising mishap – or a student’s intentional edit.