District 105 Names New Superintendent

District 105, which serves south La Grange, Countryside and Hodgkins, has recently concluded its search for a new superintendent.

Brian J. Ganan, Ed.D. will start on July 1 as superintendent. He comes from District 94 in North Riverside, where he has served as superintendent since 2015. The current District 105 superintendent is Steve Bahn.

Ganan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, a master’s from DePaul University, and an Ed.D. from Roosevelt University.

Dr. Ganan has experience as a middle school English, math and Spanish teacher and taught English as a second language in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He was also an assistant principal and principal in Community Consolidated School District 59.

He has been recognized internationally for his research on the correlation between Spanish language oral reading fluency and success on high-stakes English reading assessments. This research was published in the International Education and Learning Review. His other distinctions include being featured on CNN for his work advocating for local and federal capital dollars and being a charter member of the Institute for Education Innovation.

School Board President Dave Herndon said, “We are excited to have Dr. Ganan join our district and look forward to getting him on-board in the coming months. His background and experience will be a tremendous asset as we continue to work on executing our 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, and to ensure we provide the best education for all of our students.

In the coming weeks, Ganan will be meeting with various members of the school community. The district will also be scheduling a “Meet the Superintendent” event to introduce Ganan to the community.

In his email announcement to staff and parents, Herndon included a thank you to Steve Bahn, “for his contributions to the success of District 105 during his time as principal at Ideal, as our Assistant Superintendent and finally our Superintendent.” Bahn's last day is June 30.