Ignoring State? Hinsdale D86 Yet To Release Recording

HINSDALE, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board has yet to honor the attorney general's 3-month-old request to release parts of a recording of a 2022 closed meeting.

On Nov. 15, the attorney general's office determined the board violated the state's Open Meetings Act in August 2022. The board should have discussed goal-setting for then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss in public, the attorney general said.

In its letter, the attorney general's office gave the board the portions of the record – to the second – that should be released to the public.

The attorney general's opinion was non-binding, meaning the board does not have to follow it. Usually, public bodies comply.

As of Thursday, it's been 92 days since the attorney general's opinion. In similar situations, other school districts acted sooner.

In 2021, the attorney general determined the Elmhurst School District 205 board violated the open meetings law. Thirty-two days later, the board agreed to release the recording in question.

Last April, the attorney general found the Lyons Township High School board in violation in a binding opinion, meaning the school's only option to defy it was to appeal the decision in court. Members voted to divulge the audio 41 days later.

In District 86, Hinsdale resident Dale Kleber, who filed the complaint with the attorney general, indicated on Facebook recently that he was discussing "the scope of the release."

He didn't say with whom he was discussing the issue. Patch could not find contact information for Kleber.

Kleber, an attorney, pointed out the violation occurred when Erik Held was president of the board. A new majority that Kleber supports took control after last April's election.

He said 60 percent of the 2022 closed meeting was unlawful. The other parts involved Prentiss' performance, which can be discussed behind closed doors.

"I have reason to believe that the current Board will be more transparent and handle this issue differently going forward," Kleber said on the private Facebook page "D86Return2Excellence," which has more than 400 members. "In the interim, I consider it a positive that those who supported doing the public's business behind closed doors are now gone from the D86 scene."

Patch left a message with board members Thursday on when they would act on the attorney general's request.

In his post, Kleber, a critic of Superintendent Prentiss, did not mention the new board's issue with the Open Meetings Act.

Shortly after taking control, the new majority decided behind closed doors to suspend Prentiss and name an interim superintendent. The board announced its actions the next day, but never revealed the vote tallies. Such decisions are supposed to be made in public.

Patch filed a complaint with the attorney general's office, which decided to investigate. It has yet to rule.

Through its attorney, the board told the attorney general that it did not violate the law.