District 86 Addresses Civil Rights Complaint From Burr Ridge

DARIEN, IL — District 86 Board President and Hinsdale South science teachers are praising the school's department after the Village of Burr Ridge Administrative Complaint to the Federal Office for Civil Rights, which states District 86 is discriminating against Hinsdale South students. One of the complaints specifically addresses the science department at Hinsdale South.

The complaint states that students "have experienced and continue to experience unlawful discrimination based upon the fixing of unlawful attendance boundaries...and the curricular disparity between Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South."

According to the complaint, Hinsdale Central has a predominantly white and more affluent population within its boundaries. Hinsdale South has a population of "lower socioeconomic means" and a higher concentration of black and Hispanic students.

Board President Bill Carpenter spoke at the June 4 board meeting and said he is very impressed with Hinsdale South's science program.

"My son took full advantage of this science program at Hinsdale South and is doing very well as a mechanical engineering student at Purdue University," Carpenter said. "He actually spoke during audience communication last month and one item he discussed was how he realized when he arrived at Purdue was how well HSHS had prepared him for college."

Several Hinsdale South officials also spoke in support of the school, including Principal Arwen Pokorny Lyp.

"I should not have to speak tonight in defense of Hinsdale South High School but the ridiculous nonsense being presented in the Village of Burr Ridge’s Administrative Complaint to the Federal Office for Civil Rightsleaves me no choice," Pokorny Lyp said at the meeting.

The principal spoke about the school's high U.S. News & World Report ranking, and the high average scores of the Illinois Science Assessment.

"I asked to be on tonight’sagenda because as principal I need to state as clearly and categorically as I can that erroneous claims against our science program are based on an incorrect interpretation of what is in fact a highly impressive set of data," Pokorny Lyp said. "These claims are offensive, hurtful, and flat out wrong. I am angry and my community is angry. The evidence laid out in this complaint is faulty, void of logic, and misrepresents who we are."

Carpenter spoke about the physics-chemistry-biology course sequence in high school which he said has been studied and recommended by Nobel Laureates Leon Lederman and Uri Haber-Schaim.

"It is astonishing that elected officials from Burr Ridge think that they know more about high school science curriculum than Nobel Prize winners in physics," Carpenter said at the meeting.

Carpenter also noted that since South adopted the physics-chemistry-biology sequence, it has seen over a 150 percent increase in AP Science course enrollment.

"I think what is most infuriating about all this nonsense is the effect it has on students," Carpenter said at the meeting. "I could stop here but I have to ask what the motivation is. Part of their motivation is to create grade level centers so we are forced to bus students in far north Oak Brook to Hinsdale South and students south of 91st Street to Hinsdale Central. That is what many of the individuals behind this complaint contend."

Carpenter expressed his disappointment with Burr Ridge and some of their representatives.

"The Village of Burr Ridge has overstepped its bounds with regards to District 86 as well as their own elected positions as representatives of Burr Ridge," Carpenter said. "They have organized a campaign without merit against our District. I am positive that the Department of Education will find this complaint as ludicrous as we do."

Burr Ridge village board member Zach Mottl is one resident who stands behind the civil rights complaint. Carpenter spoke specifically about his claims during the meeting.

"Zach Mottl has been told the evidence does not support his claims, he has been told by other members of this community that his opinion, and it is exactly that, his opinion, is inaccurate. Instead of listening to the facts he negligently and with complete disregard attacked the science curriculum at Hinsdale South. This behavior does not represent the morals or values we need in our elected officials," Carpenter said.

Image via District 86.