Hinsdale South Principal Details Off-Campus Lunch Proposal

DARIEN, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 board members said Thursday they had not seen the details of the proposal for allowing off-campus lunch for seniors at Hinsdale South.

For the first time, the idea was on the board's meeting agenda. While members generally said they were open to the idea, they needed more information.

But South Principal Patrick Hardy, who is leaving the district for another job, said he had been instructed by "multiple interim superintendents" – there have been five over the last 11 months – that Hinsdale South was barred from submitting off-campus lunch as an agenda item. This was "per the direction of whoever they speak to privately," he said.

"We have followed the instructions that we have been given for over a year," Hardy said.

A few months ago, South's student liaison, Madeline LaPointe, brought up students' desire for off-campus lunch during her monthly report. Then board members asked LaPointe and Hardy questions about it.

"That was a surprise to me because my understanding was that it would not be an agenda item per the instructions of my supervisors," said Hardy, who praised students such as LaPointe for bringing it up.

He said only one board member, Peggy James, emailed the district questions about off-campus lunch before the issue was on Thursday's agenda. He said he answered them.

Some audience members applauded after Hardy spoke.

Board President Catherine Greenspon said the board did not have the off-campus lunch proposal.

Hardy replied that he submitted it to the interim superintendents on Friday and that he presumed it would be attached to the board's meeting agenda. He said he was frustrated that it wasn't.

Under the proposal, he said, only seniors with C's or better in their classes would be allowed to go off campus for lunch. He said he would rather it be B's or higher, as some research suggests. But he said he was willing to compromise.

"I didn't want my personal philosophy grounded in research to be a barrier," he said. "We don't believe students with D's and F's should be allowed. They need to be in lunchtime interventions."

The first legal review found no problems with the proposal, he said. Now, the district's new law firm is reviewing it.

"I'm confident the second legal review will yield the same results because we didn't add any new things that would impact it," Hardy said.

Besides, the precedent for students leaving campus during the school day has already been set, he said. He was referring to students who drive between Hinsdale South and Central every day.

If the board approves the proposal, the school will have a security system for students to swipe in and out when going off campus for lunch, automatically alerting parents, Hardy said.

Interim Superintendent Rebecca Nelson said she would get the relevant documents to the board and have it on the board's agenda next month.

"There has been a document that has been circulated for quite some time, as I understand it," she said. "We'll make sure you have a fresh copy of that."

Earlier in the meeting, several students spoke in favor of off-campus lunch.

Currently, neither Hinsdale Central nor South allows off-campus lunch.