On Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, the Kaneland Board of Education held their biweekly meeting at Kaneland Harter Middle School to discuss various issues that are relevant at the start of the school. 

Superintendent Dr. Todd Leden started by recognizing the Taste of Kaneland, which took place Sunday, Aug. 25 at Kaneland High School. It drew people from all around the district to come and celebrate the culture of the Kaneland community. 

“It was great to see the communities from the Kaneland district come together for the one year event to celebrate all nine communities that fall in the Kaneland school district,” Leden said. 

Next, they moved on to talk about a possible contract with Trane, who would install solar panels throughout the Kaneland school district. Aaron Raftery, an employee for Trane, came to give the board a presentation on the current study that they have been doing across all the schools in the district. He said that Trane is ready to proceed with batch one which included Harter Middle School, John Stewart Elementary and John Shields Elementary by installing the solar panels on the metal lining of the schools’ roofs. 

Raftery then gave an overview of batches two and three which consist of Blackberry Creek Elementary, McDole Elementary and Kaneland High School, which would be ground mounts. This means that there would be batches of solar panels on the ground around the schools. The agreement means that 1,051 kW solar voltaic panels would be installed at no cost to District 302, and purchased power would come at a reduced rate while Trane captures federal, state and utility incentives for the next 25 years. 

The board had concerns about installing these panels in residential areas near the elementary schools without the Homeowners Associations’ and the general public’s approval. The board also raised concerns over the positioning of the panels at the high school as they may be close to Keslinger Road where many students exit and enter school. The board’s final comment came from a concern of not having a bailout option in the contract, which would give Kaneland the ability to void the contract if the job isn’t being done as it should be. This will be further discussed in a future meeting once Trane conducts more research. 

Dr. Leden then discussed the opening of school and how they welcomed back staff, including 40 new staff members. He also discussed how approximately 3,100 Chromebooks were distributed throughout the high school at a rate of eight computers per minute rather than the expected one or two per minute. He then commented on how Kaneland’s third year of Kaneland 2020 was complete and gave an overview of year three’s goals and the direction that Kaneland 2020 will be heading in year four and beyond. 

Kaneland’s board will reconvene on Sept. 9 at Harter Middle School at 7 P.M in the sixth grade team room.