Dist. 203 boss' legacy: facilities, curriculum, communication

While some outsiders have struggled to fit into leadership posts in Naperville, the community embraced Alan Leis.

The retiring Naperville Unit District 203 superintendent made Naperville his home and isn't in a rush to leave after he wraps up his six years in the district this month.

Leis came to the district in 2003 after spending three decades in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

During his tenure in Naperville, he garnered enough community support for a $43 million tax increase to fund $115 million in facilities project, oversaw some of the district's highest-achieving graduating classes and was a driving force behind a dual-language program for elementary students.

But the road wasn't without its bumps. Some in the community lashed out after the Daily Herald revealed the district collected millions of dollars more than it told voters to expect in its 2002 referendum. The district declined to return the money.

Leis also made tough choices more recently when a firestorm erupted over the scheduled visit and subsequent cancellation of controversial author Bill Ayers and the revelation then-Naperville Central High School Principal Jim Caudill plagiarized a speech during a graduation event.

On the whole though, Leis says his time in District 203 has been a positive experience and he doesn't have any regrets. He will be replaced July 1 by Seattle-area educator Mark Mitrovich.

Leis recently spoke to the Daily Herald about his approaching retirement. Below is an edited version of that conversation.

Q. How would you characterize your six years in District 203?

A. Well, it's been wonderful overall. There's certainly been ups and downs and challenges but I'm just absolutely thrilled we made the decision to come here and I've just been so impressed with this school district and what an incredible opportunity this was. I'm very grateful for it.

Q. You replaced Superintendent Don Weber, a controversial figure in the district. How did you make a smooth transition?

A. I made it very clear from the beginning that I wasn't better than Don Weber, I was just different from him. He's helped me, he's advised me and we still run into each other and still have a very friendly relationship.

I think the other thing is to be a good leader or an authentic leader you have to really be who you are. I just always worked hard to reach out to people and involve them and to listen to them and I generally get very positive feedback.

I think the issues were around communication and trust and there was all kind of historical baggage we were able to for the most part put behind us.

Q. Other out-of-staters hired to lead governing bodies in Naperville have had a tough time fitting in and haven't lasted long. How did you manage to overcome that?

A. I've often thought about that and I'm grateful for the fact that Naperville accepted (my wife) Kathy and me and that we were able to adapt to and adopt Naperville. It was just clear from the beginning I really loved being here and I hoped I had some skills that were useful I could contribute.

This really is an incredible staff so I think early on some of the key staff members here, most notably (retired associate superintendent) Ron Gibson and others, sent the word out that I was OK. I think that helped a lot. There were huge community supporters from the very beginning. Mary Ann Bobosky (retired director of planning and community relations) was another one who was just absolutely phenomenal. She invited me over and had several key community leaders there the first day of work to meet me and talk to me and find out who I was.

There were clearly some old time Napervillians who made this much easier for me and I will always be indebted to them for doing that. They had strong allegiance to the school system and they wanted things to go well. They were willing to help me make that happen.

Q. What do you consider your biggest accomplishment over the past six years?

A. Facilities has to be one and the second would be trust and communication and the third would be instruction, particularly around foreign language and around more kids taking advanced placement courses. At the core I'm such a curriculum geek so I really don't want to be remembered just for the physical things, I want to be remembered for some of the instructional things as well.

Q. You dealt with your share of difficult situations. Do you wish you had handled any differently?

A. I think you can always look back on decisions in perfect hindsight and say I wish I had been a little more of this and a little more of that. But no, I really worked hard. I don't have any regrets about those or the avenues they took. I tried to do my homework, I tried to get the information, tried to listen to the community and in the end I did what I felt was the right thing to do. I don't have any regrets about those decisions.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=301632">Retiring Dist. 203 boss: Remember me for fairness, trust <span class="date">[06/22/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>