Lake Zurich Dist. 95's new superintendent off and running
Kaine Osburn has gotten into the flow in his first few weeks as Lake Zurich Unit District 95's new superintendent.
On Thursday morning, he attended a Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast at Concorde Banquets in Kildeer with elected officials from Lake County and the state discussing issues such as Illinois' lack of a complete budget and the potential Route 53 extension.
Later in the evening, Osburn got to sit in the middle seat at a school board meeting - as a superintendent for the first time in his education career. Osburn, who was directed by board President Doug Goldberg to lead the Pledge of Allegiance before the session started, officially started his District 95 duties July 1.
"It's exciting," said Osburn, 47. "It's what I've been working for, for a long time, to be able to be the superintendent at a board meeting. I just feel really grateful that it's in a district like this one, in a community that supports the schools."
Hired in November 2015, Osburn replaced Michael Egan, who retired June 30. He heads a district with an enrollment of 5,666 pupils in kindergarten through high school in eight schools for the 2015-16 academic year.
Osburn had been Naperville Unit District 203's deputy superintendent since 2013. Before that, Osburn was principal for six years at Niles West High School in Skokie and also had been the division head for English and fine arts at Wheeling High School in Northwest Suburban High School District 214.
Because District 95 hired him in November 2015, Osburn said, he made about a dozen visits to accelerate the transition process. He also said he was able to leave Naperville at the end of May and spend about 15 days in June learning about District 95 from Egan, who worked his way to superintendent in a 22-year career there.
"That made a big difference, because I was able to start to meet with my team and with all the players involved, and also get a lot of tips from Mike about how to make the transition successful," Osburn said. "That's something that doesn't happen that often. It's really great that the folks in Naperville were able to make it happen and the board here was, too."
He said he's already met with Lake Zurich Mayor Thomas Poynton and other leaders in an effort to build relationships important to District 95.
Osburn topped 53 other candidates for District 95's top administrative post. He received a starting annual salary of $204,500.