Petkunas retires as I-KAN regional schools superintendent

For as much as Frank Petkunas loves the field of education, it is hard to believe he didn’t become a teacher until age 35.

Now 59, Petkunas started his 25-year career in education as a science teacher at Peotone High School, then Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School.

He is set to retire Friday after 13 years with the Iroquois-Kankakee Regional Office of Education, including the past three years as regional superintendent of schools.

Though Petkunas had a steady career with his parents’ business, Frank’s Appliance Center in Bradley, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted to be teaching.

He initially went to college to study education, but instead ended up earning a degree in business administration and marketing.

At around age 30, Petkunas decided to go back to school and earn his teaching certification while raising his children and working full time at the family store.

In retrospect, he feels he didn’t have enough experience to deal with the stress of being in a management position.

“I distinctly remember on Sunday nights, I had a hard time sleeping,” Petkunas said.

While he would earn less money as a teacher, he would also be able to spend more time with his children, and he would be pursuing his passions, both for teaching and science.

“Looking back, I’ve always been a teacher,” Petkunas said. “I think most people are teachers, but I always remember feeling like I taught people, whether it was customers, coworkers or whatever.”

Though he had an emotional attachment to the family business, his sister, JoAnne, had an interest in taking it over. She and her husband, Mark Keen, still own and run it to this day.

“It was the right path, even though it was a little convoluted,” Petkunas said. “But it’s been fun, and I’ve met a lot of great people.”

Best move

Petkunas worked for two years as a biology teacher at Peotone High School, then for a decade at BBCHS, where he taught science, became chair of the science department and the teachers' union president. Eventually he was a teacher dean before finally accepting a position as assistant principal.

However, the assistant principal role was not to be. Before his start date, Gregg Murphy, former I-KAN regional schools superintendent, called to ask if he would be interested in a job as assistant regional superintendent.

After talking to Murphy more about the position, Petkunas was offered the job.

“I met with everybody I could possibly meet with to give me a reason to not take the job,” Petkunas said. “And nobody could tell me I shouldn’t. Everybody was like, ‘Yeah, you’ve gotta do this.’

“So I took the job, and it was one of the best moves I’ve ever made.”

Petkunas enjoyed teaching and did not feel like he needed to get out of the classroom, but he saw the move as an opportunity to help kids in a different way.

Patricia High, assistant regional superintendent since 2022, will pick up the torch after Petkunas retires. She was previously a professional development administrator for the regional office.

High, Petkunas and Murphy all were in the same cohort while earning master’s degrees in education administration at Olivet Nazarene University.

The I-KAN Regional Office of Education serves approximately 140,000 residents in Kankakee and Iroquois counties, 2,000 educators, 18 school districts, 68 public school buildings, 10 non-public schools and 26,000 school-aged children.

Petkunas said that most people who deal with the regional office know it for one thing, whether it’s teachers receiving professional development or parents working with truancy officers regarding their children.

He himself was unfamiliar with everything the office does when he first started there.

“It’s not until you really work here that you really understand the wide range of responsibilities and services we provide for the community,” Petkunas said.

In addition to coaching and professional development for teachers, the office also deals with teacher licensure, health and life safety compliance for schools, and youth advocacy and homeless services.

Its programs include the Students All Learning Together (SALT) alternative school, the Regional Alternative Attendance Center (RACC), the Life Education Center and the Attendance Assistance Program.

“We’re dealing with a lot of rough situations, so we have to savor the small victories,” Petkunas said. “… We have to try to celebrate when we get kids that aren’t going to school, maybe 50% of the time, now they are going to school 60% of the time. That’s a victory to us.”

As he prepares to leave the field of education behind, he said that he hates to hear others, especially other educators, discouraging young people from pursuing the profession.

“If we have kids that are interested in doing this for a living, we need to encourage that, because we need good people,” Petkunas said. “We need people who want to do this for the right reasons.”

Petkunas doesn’t have any specific plans for retirement beyond spending more time with his family, including his wife, Sonya; their three adult sons, Eric, Alex and Sam; and three grandchildren.

Some boating and traveling may be in the cards.

“What I’ve been telling people, basically tongue in cheek, is I’m going to do whatever I want,” he said. “… I always keep an open mind about things. If something comes up that seems like an opportunity, I’d definitely consider it.”