Correction (October 1, 2026): An earlier version compared District 103's 2025-26 enrollment with earlier years drawn from a different state count. On the Report Card count, the district grew by 226 students (13.7%) from 2014-15 to 2024-25 while Illinois fell 10.0%; the earlier version said 160 (9.7%) against 11.4%. On the state's fall count, used at both ends, enrollment peaked at 1,908 in 2022-23, not 1,894; 2025-26 is 101 students (5.3%) below that peak, not 87 (4.6%); and the latest year fell by 71 students (3.8%), not 66 (3.5%). The three-year run of declines and the grade figures are unchanged.

Katie Reynolds did not have to learn a new administrative team when she became superintendent of Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103^↗ET. She had already spent years working beside it.

"Over the years, our administrative team has worked so closely together that they have become like family," Reynolds said in a written response to The ILEdTribune. "When Dr. Scott Warren announced his retirement, I took time to reflect on the opportunity to lead this incredible district while continuing to work alongside such a dedicated administrative team, outstanding teachers, and a community that deeply values education. It was an opportunity I simply couldn't pass up."

Reynolds became superintendent July 1, according to her written response to The ILEdTribune, succeeding Warren after his retirement. District 103's administrative team page lists Reynolds as superintendent. She most recently served as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The promotion gives the longtime instructional leader both continuity and a wider operating brief.

"This position provides the opportunity to deepen my understanding of other areas, including finance, transportation, operations, and facilities," Reynolds said. "I am excited to learn from the talented people who lead those departments and to engage with our community in new ways as we work together to support every student."

The district she now leads enrolled 1,807 students in 2025-26, the most recent school year in the state's published data. The long view sets District 103 apart from the statewide pattern: on the Illinois Report Card count, it grew from 1,647 students in 2014-15 to 1,873 in 2024-25, an increase of 226 students, or 13.7 percent, during a period when Illinois enrollment fell 10.0 percent.

The short view is different. On the state's fall enrollment count, which assigns each student to a home district and is the only count published for 2025-26, District 103 peaked at 1,908 students in 2022-23 and declined for three consecutive years through 2025-26. The 2025-26 count is 101 students, or 5.3 percent, below that peak. The latest move was also the largest in the streak: 71 fewer students in 2025-26 than the year before, a 3.8 percent decline.

The grade pattern from last school year sharpens the planning question. In 2025-26, the most recent year in the state's data files, District 103 had 110 kindergartners and 242 eighth graders, or 45.5 kindergartners for every 100 eighth graders. Current-year counts will differ once the state publishes 2026-27 data. That cross-section is not an enrollment forecast: class sizes change from year to year, and students move into and out of a district. It is a signal for a PK-8 system deciding how to match programs, staffing, and buildings to the students it will serve.

Reynolds is beginning with a strategic-planning process rather than a fixed answer. She said her first priority is to bring administrators, staff, students, families, and the community into developing a shared vision for the district.

"As technology and artificial intelligence continue to transform education and the workforce, it is important that we think intentionally about the knowledge, skills, and experiences our students will need to be successful," Reynolds said. "I look forward to listening to the perspectives of all our stakeholders as we identify the goals that will guide our district in the years ahead."

That work builds on a career spent close to instruction. Reynolds most recently served as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. District 103's succession plan kept her in the organization she knows while changing the scope of the questions on her desk, from what happens in classrooms to how the entire district supports them.

"I was excited to build on that strong foundation and see what we could achieve next," Reynolds said.

The first-year test will be turning that invitation into choices: what students should learn in an AI-shaped world, what the district's enrollment pattern requires, and how a new superintendent can preserve trust while learning the parts of the system she has not previously led. Reynolds starts with a rare advantage for an incoming leader. She already knows the people she will ask.

How we reported this story

Enrollment and grade-level figures come from the Illinois State Board of Education data files. Changes through 2024-25 use the Report Card count, which does not include 2017-18, so no annual-change claim crosses that gap. The 2025-26 figures and every change ending in 2025-26 use the state's Fall Enrollment Report on both ends; the two counts are never subtracted from each other. Quotes, the July 1 start date, and succession details are from Katie Reynolds's written responses to The ILEdTribune. Her current role and prior curriculum role are linked to District 103's administrative team and curriculum-and-instruction pages.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.