Motives Questioned In Hinsdale D-86 Debate

BURR RIDGE, IL – The battle continues on the Hinsdale High School District 86 board over whether to approve minutes from its closed meetings.

During a discussion Thursday, the board president questioned the motives of those who were poised to vote against the latest minutes. Meanwhile, a dissenter suggested the minutes were "revisionist history."

Over the summer, the issue has been perhaps the biggest point of division between the majority and minority factions. In June, the board's minority walked out over it.

Because the minutes are from closed sessions, none of them are available for the public to inspect.

In late July, the board voted 4-3 against the closed meeting minutes from February drafted by minority board member Peggy James.

Now, the minority is opposed to the minutes drafted by member Terri Walker, who succeeded James as the board's secretary in May. The minority said the minutes failed to capture what happened, with board member Jeff Waters calling them "completely incomplete."

The majority said board members can always listen to recordings if they want to know what was discussed. But James said that was difficult. She said soon after she joined the board in May 2021, she asked to listen to a closed session recording from before she was elected. She said the administration turned her down at first.

"I had to go through a series of requests with the board president to get approval from legal before being allowed to listen to a closed session," James said. "I had to justify the reason why I needed to listen to the meeting recording."

Walker defended the minutes she drafted, saying they could be a high-level summary of the discussion, rather than a written transcript. The minutes, she said, were approved by the district's attorney, who also made some edits.

Member Kathleen Hirsman said she was tired of talking about closed session minutes. No such discussions occurred, she said, during her six years as the board's secretary.

"Let's move on," she said.

Board President Erik Held agreed with the minority's request that the board needed guidelines on closed session minutes. He said he wanted to prevent "sniping" at meetings over the issue.

"It almost seems kind of 'You didn't approve my minutes, so I'm not going to approve your minutes,'" he said.

Hirsman said the latest minutes do what the law requires.

Waters shot back, "Apparently, the law yields to revisionist history."

The board voted 4-3 for the latest minutes, which were from a closed session earlier this month.

Held, Walker, Hirsman and Cynthia Hanson voted for the minutes and Waters, James and Debbie Levinthal against.

During the vote, Waters said, "Resolutely nay."