Curtis Saindon
Curtis Saindon, a graduate of the ACI program at Western Illinois University, is enjoying
a career that is flourishing and expanding. For the past eleven years Curt has been the Assistant Superintendent for Business Services with the Kankakee School District #111. As of July 1st he will be moving to the Frankfort School District #157-C, where he will also be the Assistant Superintendent for Business Services.
In his career, Curt has experienced many problems, the largest of which has been balancing the $50-$60 million dollar budget for a poor and urban school district (80% of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch programs). This district also has a very low tax base, and depends heavily on State Aid and State and Federal grant funding. According to Curt, the students in the Kankakee school district, both special education and regular education populations, need extensive additional services, which adds yet another challenge of trying to find the money to fund the necessary programs. Curt states that he has had to figure out how to work creatively with the State and Federal Government, as well as with the city of Kankakee in order to figure out how to “leverage dollars wherever possible to provide the services our kids need.” Through all of these challenges he has managed to find the appropriate funding without bankrupting the school district.
As for his future career with the Frankfort School District, he believes that his biggest challenge will be “to manage the explosive growth that is occurring in Frankfort and make sure that we bring new space (both additions to existing schools and building new schools) online as the enrollment grows.”
Curtis Saindon is happily married with two children, ages six and two. His wife is a speech pathologist, who has taken some time off while their children are young. They have recently moved into a new house in Bourbonnais with their children and three nieces. As a final note, Curt stated that he is very proud of his accomplishments at Kankakee, and that he is incredibly excited about the new challenges that await him in Frankfort. He says that, “I really appreciate all that I learned through the ACI program at WIU, and I feel that it has helped prepare me well for my new job in Frankfort. It is an amazing school district and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to continue my career there. I have an awesome family, and a great extended family, and I am really enjoying life right now and watching my kids grow up.”