Retiring Dist. 203 boss: Remember me for fairness, trust
As superintendent of Naperville Unit District 203, Alan Leis not only had to be an expert in curriculum, but also in construction.
He needed to be able to relate to kindergartners, provide impeccable guidance to staff members and answer tough questions from taxpayers throughout the course of what sometimes could turn into a 15-hour day.
Life's pace is about to change for the retiring superintendent, but he says he'll miss many those interactions and is proud of the district's accomplishments.
Leis recently spoke with the Daily Herald about his time in District 203. Here is an edited version of that conversation.
Q. Did anything surprise you when you arrived?
A. I think the facilities would be the biggest surprise. I was really taken aback, particularly by Naperville Central High School and early on decided that those science labs were simply not acceptable. There were certainly other parts of the building that were problematic, but the science labs in particular - I thought this just can't go on much longer.
There were some plans in the works to make some minor modifications, put in some new cabinets, etc., and early on I decided to hold on those until we had done a more comprehensive look.
The other thing that happened around facilities was there was a huge surge, particularly from the Naperville North community, around their pool and about how shallow it was. I had some experience in the past in my previous community with various lobbying groups or various special interest groups wanting a pool here, wanting a renovation of this elementary school over there, that kind of thing. I really from the beginning decided we needed to take our time and make it comprehensive and look at all of the aspects of it and try to look at options and try to talk to the community and balance it out. It wouldn't be this lobbying group and that lobbying group coming in to (talk) to the board; there needed to be a comprehensive plan.
The other surprise was I really didn't realize how good the school system was. Initially, as I uncovered the layers around instruction and how curriculum was written and how technology was being handled, I was just amazed - the training of the principals, the staff development the teachers had access to, the dedication of the teachers and their openness and willingness to accept me as a leader. I was really blown away by all of that.
Q. Are you happy District 203 chose an $87.7 million renovation of Naperville Central instead of rebuilding it?
A. Absolutely. I was thrilled. I felt in my gut this could almost be like a new school for substantially less money than a new school would cost us. And I also realized early on that logistically there just wasn't going to be the land and the ability to sort of move this entire school.
It was frustrating to me that particularly people closely associated with the school and on the school staff really saw a new school as the only solution. But in the end we were able to all work it through together.
I'm very proud of the way we were able to work it through and I'm very proud of the fact we got this right on the first try with the community. There is a history in Naperville, as I understand it, and in many other communities, of referendums not passing the first time and getting reduced and then get passed and we were able to put together a package people accepted and believed in the first time around and that's a huge tribute to the folks that worked on the task force and all the community involvement we had and the surveys. We really worked hard to get this right and listen to the community and find out where the community was on this whole issue. I'm very proud of the fact we got 59 percent support.
Q. Departing Indian Prairie Unit District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner recently said some community members "think they know quite a bit more about the education of children than the individuals that have spent their lives doing that." Did you find that to be true as well?
A. The parental involvement I found to be very positive and by and large supportive. Certainly parents lobby hard around (art, music and physical education) programs or security issues at the elementary school, but they do it in a reasonable way. They do it in a strong advocacy way, but they do it by and large in a reasonable way.
I think the piece that's harder for me isn't really about the parent community. I think it's certain parts of the non-parent community who have really had, I think, unrealistic expectations around taxes.
For example, you can't maintain a quality school system like this one for much less money than we're spending. And I find it frustrating that a few people, and I think it is a few people but we hear from them frequently, make assumptions we have a bloated bureaucracy and we're vastly overspending and teacher salaries are unreasonably high and those kinds of assumptions. There's always room for debate and certainly fiscal conservatism is a mark, is an important attribute of Naperville I long understand.
But there are a few people who really, I think, have very unreasonable expectations about taxes and property taxes in particular and they make the assumption the quality of the school system would be fine if there was a dramatic reduction in property taxes. I don't believe that's true at all.
Q. What will you miss most about District 203?
A. I'll miss the daily interaction with people. I'll miss being around students the way I'm around students because they keep you grounded and make you smile. So I think the adults and the kids and I'll miss the pace. I'll miss the unexpectedness of it that is very exciting even as I'm ready to step back and not be totally surprised by the events of every day. I expect it'll be a bit of an adjustment to go from 50-plus hour weeks to not having a defined time schedule, but I'm looking forward to trying.
Q. What's next for you?
A. My daughter refers to this as my sabbatical and that's the way I'm looking at it. I know I'm not done working, I know I'm not done contributing, but I want to explore options. I want to explore options in the nonprofit world. There's some possibilities on the horizon to maybe do some college-level teaching again, but I'm not anxious to jump into that right away.
I've got short-term plans for travel and a long list of things I've wanted to do for a long time. So those are going to consume the first several months and then I'm going to see how I adjust to retirement and what I most miss and what I want to do next. I see some vague possibilities on the horizon, but I'm not in any hurry to sign up for a long list of scheduling opportunities.
Q. Do you plan to stay in Naperville?
A. I think it's too early to say. We're going to stay here at least a year, maybe longer. We have a daughter here and a daughter on the East Coast. I think it'll just all depend on the opportunities of where we're going to be.
We have loved Naperville and we love Chicago and I do expect that wherever we spend most of our time, whether it's in the Washington, D.C., area or in Naperville that we're going to have at least an apartment in the other place. Hopefully we'll be able to afford that financially.
We really love this area and we've made good friends here and we have a daughter here. I think we're going to stay connected, it's just a matter of where will we end up spending most of our time. For next year that will be Naperville and after that we're just taking it as it comes.
Q. What do you hope people remember most about your time here?
A. I think just fairness, trust, communication, community involvement. I really have tried to live the five parts of our mission just as we want our kids to do and I'd like my legacy to be that people look at our mission and say "he did that."
Q. Do you have any advice for incoming Superintendent Mark Mitrovich?
A. He'll do a fantastic job. I do think we need to look at certain aspects of our technology plan and he's the perfect person to do that.
I think the only other bit of advice is that Naperville will give back to you on a personal level but it's really helpful when it's apparent to the community you're giving to them. I know he's going to get involved in the community but I think that community involvement, that back and forth, is so important.
I know he'll do that but it was really one of the things that helped me so much - the United Way, DuPage Symphony, Rotary Club, YMCA board - all of those avenues. I did a lot of those things and they were very good ways of getting to know the community and the things that were going on in the community related to students and community.