Kane County Reporter

School District 302 Superintendent Todd Leden recently shared different options to have student representation on the school board.

"I would like to share some of the ideas that I've seen and learned about for student representation to a board, get some feedback from the board, compile that and then bring back an official recommendation in June. So there are a couple of things we can do," Leden said on May 23 at the Kaneland Board of Education meeting. 

Leden proposed three different ideas for having student representation on the school board. The first idea was to select a student to be a non-voting, no-authority member of the board, who listened and spoke on behalf of the student body. The second idea was to use existing student groups, like the student council, as a sounding board for student feedback. The third idea was to create a new student committee that would work with the superintendent to discuss and represent the student body.

There were board members in opposition to this plan. Some thought it would be a cumbersome and difficult process that would not bring much benefit or insight to the board. The argument against this was that, even if that were to be true, it would still be an amazing opportunity for the student, who would gain experience, resume boosters and civic engagement.

According to the minutes of the meeting, the board did come to a consensus about a few of the requirements for this idea going forward. They agreed that it should be a dedicated high school student who would come to board meetings, one preferably already involved in student committees, that they are responsible as a liaison between the board, the middle and high schools, and that they would need to help implement a transition phase from one student representative to the next.