Kaneland Community Unit District 302 Superintendent of Schools Dr. Todd Leden and Associate Superintendent Dr. Julie-Ann Fuchs are set to retire in the next two years, with Fuchs retiring after this school year and Leden retiring after the 2024-25 school year. Both administrators have devoted numerous years to the Kaneland district, and this was a planned decision for them both.
The role of a superintendent is to convey and carry out the district’s mission and manage the effective operation of the school district, and an associate superintendent is in charge of the business functions and operations.
Leden confirmed his retirement at the Oct. 11, 2023, school board meeting, which started the search for the next superintendent. At the time of this publication, no new superintendent has been announced.
Fuchs’s last day is June 27, 2024. After she retires, her current position, associate superintendent, will be replaced with assistant superintendent for business. Jackie Bogan, the current assistant superintendent for business, has been training for these responsibilities this past school year.
“My role this year is to learn and be part of the transition plan and process for when Dr. Fuchs retires at the end of this school year,” Bogan said.
One of the main factors that led Bogan to apply for her current position was the opportunity to train under Fuchs, whom Bogan and Leden described as a highly regarded expert in the field of school business. Additionally, Fuchs was one of Bogan’s professors when she attended Northern Illinois University for her Master of Science in Education/Business Management degree and her Chief School Business Official (CSBO) endorsement.
“When I saw that the position was open and there was an opportunity to work with her for a full year, that was a no-brainer,” Bogan said. “That was the main reason why I applied here because having that time to have a mentor and someone to transition with for a year is basically unheard of.”
Out of Fuchs’s 33 years in education, 26 have been with Kaneland. She spent four years teaching the Fox Valley Career Center’s (FVCC) computer technology program in the morning and technology-based professional development in the afternoon, four years as the director of the Valley Education for Employment System (VALEES), three years as the assistant school business official, five years as the assistant superintendent for business and 10 years as the associate superintendent.
For the first part of Leden’s career, he taught physical education, health and math at Aurora Christian Schools, Jefferson Middle School in Aurora and Geneva High School, along with coaching many sports. He then worked at Fenton High School, first as the athletic director, then as the principal and associate superintendent. He transitioned to Kaneland in 2015 as the superintendent, where he has been for the past nine years. His final day as superintendent will be in June of 2025. One of his favorite parts of his career at Kaneland was the ability to build ties across the nine communities that make up the district. One of the biggest challenges that he faces as superintendent is building consensus among multiple stakeholders.
“Not everybody loves every decision, but they’re made with research, a lot of input and with the goal to impact the greater good,” Leden said. After nine years as coworkers, they reflected positively on their partnership.
“We make a good team because we both have different perspectives,” Fuchs said. “He brings the big picture, and I bring the operations and details.”
