Are Hinsdale D-86 Legal Bills Rising?

BURR RIDGE, IL – Members of the Hinsdale High School District 86 board on Thursday agreed the district's legal bills are rising.

In fact, the bills are higher than four years ago, according to a Patch analysis. But the district has seen such large legal costs before.

Over six years, the district has spent $2.1 million on legal bills, according to school board meeting minutes. The vast majority of that money went to the board's main firm, Arlington Heights-based Hodges Loizzi.

Since May 2019, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss has been at the helm. The total legal bills for her three years were $362,737 in 2019-20, $436,357 in 2020-21 and $401,911 in 2021-22.

For the last three years of her predecessor, Bruce Law, the total legal bills were $435,521 in 2016-17, $258,288 in 2017-18 and $207,230 in 2018-19. The last two years of his reign saw relatively low legal bills. But 2016-17's bills were in the neighborhood of Prentiss' last two years.

For several months, some members of the board's minority have voted against approving the legal bills. They say they need more information and that the legal advice has not been given to all the members.

At Thursday's meeting, members Erik Held, Kathleen Hirsman, Terri Walker, Cynthia Hanson and Debbie Levinthal approved the bills for the last two months. But Jeff Waters and Peggy James dissented.

Waters said the bills have become excessive.

"They are increasing by many magnitudes year over year, quarter over quarter, etc.," Waters said. "We need to understand why exactly that is happening. We also need to know as a district some of the fiscal constraints and demands that will be placed on us in the upcoming year that we're already seeing playing out with certain projects."

He said he wanted to champion fiscal prudence and find a way to lessen the legal bills.

Board President Held said he would be happy to answer any questions about the bills from board members outside an open meeting.

"As for the escalation we have seen in the legal bills over the last couple of years, we at the board table have talked about that a few times," he said.

Waters said he has closely looked at the bills.

"It's not to say that they are not valid or appropriate. It's to say as a district, as a community and as trusted fiduciaries, can we find a way to navigate a pathway forward to minimize these expenses?" Waters said. "I don't question the charges themselves. I question the pathway we found ourselves here."

Held said he had comments on the legal bills, but they would be best for individual phone calls with board members.

"I have some thoughts, but they are not thoughts for open (session) now," Held said.