Hinsdale D86 Closed Meeting Broke Law: Attorney General

HINSDALE, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board violated state law when it held a closed session on goal-setting for the superintendent in 2022, the attorney general found.

Under state law, a public body can talk about an employee's performance issues behind closed doors. However, discussions about an employee's goals must be in public.

The board meeting in question was on Aug. 29, 2022. At the time, four of the board's seven members supported then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss. Three others did not.

Following last April's election, a new board majority ousted Prentiss.

After the 2022 closed meeting, Hinsdale resident Dale Kleber filed a complaint with the attorney general's office. He wanted the agency to investigate whether the board illegally closed the doors.

Through a public records request, Patch obtained his complaint, the district's response and the attorney general's determination.

"Strict interpretation of the Open Meetings Act ensures the public is indeed informed to the fullest extent possible, thereby protecting against government deliberation and decisions made in backrooms during closed sessions," wrote Kleber, an attorney.

In response, the district's lawyer, Steven Richart, said that while Kleber wanted to know how the "sausage was made," the state has determined a board can hold performance goal-setting discussions behind closed doors.

Richart further argued the goal-setting process was "inherently and inextricably" involved with the discussion about the superintendent's performance.

In his determination letter in November, Assistant Attorney General Ben Silver said he listened to the recording of the closed session. He said parts of the meeting only had to do with goals, without any discussion of performance.

Other portions, he said, were "inextricably intertwined" with the superintendent's performance.

Silver concluded the board violated the law. He requested the board release the recording and minutes of the parts of the closed meeting that dealt only with goal-setting.

In an email to Patch, interim Superintendent Raymond Lechner said the district's new law firm, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz, is reviewing the matter.

"No decision to release the recording has been made," Lechner said.

Kleber spoke at the school board's Dec. 21 meeting about the successful outcome for his complaint.

In another case, Patch filed a complaint after the board's closed meeting last May. In the meeting, the board decided to suspend Prentiss and name an interim superintendent. It announced those decisions the next day in a public statement.

Such actions are supposed to be made in public. The attorney general is investigating.

The district's lawyer defended the board's handling of the matters.