Fenton High principal a Kaneland superintendent hopeful
The principal of Fenton High School in Bensenville is one of two people the Kaneland school board is considering hiring as its next superintendent.
Todd Leden, who is also associate superintendent for educational services for Fenton High School District 100, toured several Kaneland schools Wednesday and met with about 10 people at a forum. He then attended a closed school board meeting.
The second candidate - who school board President Cheryl Krauspe declined to name - will do the same thing Thursday. The public forum is at 4:15 p.m. in the Kaneland High School library, Meredith and Keslinger roads, Maple Park.
Leden, who was born and raised in Aurora, attended college at Judson University in Elgin and Aurora University. He now lives in Geneva and at Geneva High School in the late 1990s as a teacher, interim athletic director and basketball coach. He also taught at schools in Aurora.
He answered questions about his leadership style, why he wants to come to Kaneland, how he has dealt with difficult situations, whether he could start in the middle of the school year and what he does for fun.
He called Kaneland an "interesting district." It is a large district - 140 square miles - where about half borders the Tri-Cities and half is rural. Plus, students come from nine towns and unincorporated areas to attend. He said he would have town-hall meetings throughout the district to talk to residents about these topics.
"How do we make that transition to suburbia and academic excellence at the same time while keeping some of the traditions of a rural community, and trying to balance both of those as the district moves forward?" Leden said.