Kaneland school board candidates get personal on reasons for running for election during forum

Curriculum concerns, the district’s grading system and the learning environment in the district’s schools are some of the issues that have inspired three newcomers to run for the Kaneland School District 302 Board in the April 4 consolidated election.

Ryan Kleisner, Edmund Koch and Aaron McCauley participated in the Citizens Advisory Committee and Kaneland Education Association candidates forum Feb. 23 at Kaneland Harter Middle School.

Incumbents Megan Junk and Bob Mankivsky also are running for reelection as five candidates are vying to fill four open seats. Neither Junk nor Mankivsky participated in the forum.

“[My daughter] came home and talked about some of the things she was learning in health class I was not aware of was going on,” Kleisner said. “Some of the things that have been said over the years, talked about in classrooms by certain teachers, kind of pushing a different agenda, their personal opinions on things versus the actual curriculum. That’s really what sparked it for me.”

Kleisner, an Elburn resident who has two children in the district, enjoyed going to school and wants to ensure the same for others.

“I want to see the same for my kids,” he said. “I want to understand what’s going on. This is new to me, which is very exciting. I think being a part of this as kind of a layman, to see a different perspective of it, is going to be what benefits me the most. I have a hunger to learn new things.”

The 19-year-old Koch, a lifelong Sugar Grove resident, graduated from Marmion Academy in Aurora last year after previously attending schools in the district.

“I’ll be honest, there’s a reason for that,” he said. “One of the main reasons I’m running is because I feel students are not encouraged to go above and beyond. At least at my time at Kaneland Harter Middle School, we were lulled into the average. I could do a homework assignment and get an ‘A’ in about 10 minutes of a 45-minute period and then kind of sit on my Chromebook and do whatever.”

Now a student at the University of Illinois, Koch believes his recent experiences would provide unique insight.

“I believe there is room on a school board for someone who has learned, gone to Kaneland, attended the district for nine years and knows what an education is in the 21st century and in the information age,” he said. “Education is constantly evolving, always using new Chromebooks or iPads or whatnot, and I experienced that during school. I was using all that and believe that I can bring a perspective from the student to help the students learn and have meaningful direction in their education.”

Safeguarding the education, mental health and well-being of his four children, as well as all the students in the district, have fueled McCauley’s fire to serve.

“I feel students are to be treated equally and fairly at all times,” the Elburn resident said. “All students should have the same opportunity to succeed academically and not be restricted by a standards-based grading system. Hard work and exceptional effort should be praised and not diminished in an effort for all students to be in the box of mediocrity.

“School work and testing should be prioritized and not downplayed by giving students unlimited opportunities to make up work or retake exams. We are doing them a disservice as parents if we think this prepares them for success later in life.”

With young children, Kleisner and McCauley said they could see themselves serving for a long time, while Koch acknowledged he was a one-and-done candidate, at least for now.