Hi Christian,
The request is perfectly valid. Here is a possible workaround that would keep the expanded/collapsed node in focus:
https://dojo.telerik.com/erIwIyiJ
Regards,
Veselin Tsvetanov
Progress Telerik
Love the Telerik and Kendo UI products and believe more people should try them? Invite a fellow developer to become a Progress customer and each of you can get a $50 Amazon gift voucher.