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CARTHAGE, ILL. -- The Illini West High School District is giving a plan to finance a new high school another try.

Voters in that district will see an eight million dollar bond issue on the April 9th ballot.

If the bond issue does pass, voters would see a slight increase in their property tax when the bonds are actually sold.

A similar issue failed in November.

On any given day, more than 400 students walk through the doors at Illini West High School in Carthage. That many students has caused an overcrowding problem. So the district would like to build a new high school to allow more room and create a safer environment. The district has planned a series of meetings in Carthage, LaHarpe and Dallas City to explain its plans.

"This time we're trying to bring in the architects and the engineers and more community people in to talk about what the project is and why we need it," school superintendent Kim Schilson said.

Right now, the district is using some portable classrooms; lunch is served in shifts; and some kids even can leave campus to go home for lunch. Exterior doors are left open so students can walk from building to building for classes, which presents a security problem that administrators say would be eliminated with a new school building.

"We have so many different ways into our building, it's hard to secure. We've got to keep doors unlocked for kids to get in and out of the main building so they can get in and out to the portables. And it's bad to say that we could have somebody come up and get in our building and we wouldn't know it for some time," IWHS principal Brad Gooding said.

If voters say yes to the eight million dollar bond issue, the district would try to get about 26 million dollars from the state to help pay for the project. If that state money doesn't come through, the district would not issue the bonds and taxpayers would not see a tax increase.

The first informational meeting is scheduled for Thursday March 7, 2012 in Carthage at the high school, it begins at 7:30 p.m.

The other meetings are March 18th at the LaHarpe Elementary School and on March 20th at the Dallas City Elementary School, both of those meetings start at 7:30 p.m. as well.