Goals OK'd For New Hinsdale D86 Superintendent

DARIEN, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board on Thursday approved five goals for Superintendent Michael Lach, who took office July 1.

The goals are to:

• Identify and improve the academic performance of all students and address achievement gaps in the current performance results.
• Recruit, hire and retain high-quality, effective teachers, school leaders and support staff.
• Evaluate and manage human, financial and physical resources and processes effectively and efficiently.
• Implement effective systems of support for students and staff that promote quality learning experiences and social and emotional growth.
• Engage stakeholders to determine priorities, foster partnerships and promote learning.

During the board's discussion, member Heather Kartsounes said the goals were "great," but she asked whether the board would set up metrics to determine whether goals were being met. For instance, she questioned how the district would measure academic performance.

Board President Catherine Greenspon said one of the hurdles was that the state was changing its main standardized test for high school students to the ACT, from the SAT. It would be hard to measure any improvements because of that, she said.

She also said she would be concerned with setting up metrics in Lach's first year. She said he needed to spend time learning about the district, its employees and its students before starting to move the dial.

Member Terri Walker had another concern about metrics.

"We should consider being careful about how specific we want those goals to be, and this may be an area where we want to get specific advice from legal counsel," she said. "My experience has been that we will potentially put ourselves in a difficult situation if we expect the test scores to improve by x percentage and they don't."

Board members agreed to evaluate Lach's performance as it relates to the goals twice a year. He would present a "portfolio of evidence."

The board's goal-setting discussions are now in public. That hasn't always been the case.

In August 2022, the board met behind closed doors to discuss goals for then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss. Hinsdale resident Dale Kleber later filed a complaint with the attorney general's office, which in late 2023 determined the board violated the Open Meetings Act. The meeting was held when a different board majority was in control.