Hinsdale D86 Coach May Be Suspended

HINSDALE, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board on Monday may suspend a basketball coach.

The board plans a special meeting, starting with public comment and then a closed session.

After the closed session, the board is set to vote on administrative leave for the coach.

The board's agenda did not identify the coach, the program or the school.

Despite the lack of information, the board is showing more openness with the public than when it suspended the superintendent last May.

Then the board announced its decision to suspend then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss a day after a closed meeting. No notice was given of the possible decision, which was made behind closed doors, despite a state law that requires openness.

Nine days later, the board took a public vote on Prentiss' suspension. But the agenda did not identify who would be suspended, only saying the board would take "possible action to affirm employee leave." A month later, the board ousted Prentiss as part of a severance deal.

Late last year, the district endured two controversies with its basketball program. In November, the mother of a Hinsdale South student sued the district after the coach barred her son from returning to the team. She alleged the coach retaliated against her son for a complaint he filed against a former coach.

After a closed school board meeting a few days later, the school let the player back on the team.

In the other case, the head coach and two assistants for the Hinsdale Central girls basketball team resigned their positions after complaints from parents.

The board meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the district's central office, 5500 S. Grant St.