Touchy Topic In Hinsdale D-86 May Be Addressed

DARIEN, IL — In December, the Hinsdale High School District 86's board president prohibited a debate on whether to form a task force to look at course offerings and scheduling conflicts.

Last week, President Terri Walker reversed course.

In May, board member Debbie Levinthal first proposed the task force. This was in response to South students' complaints about the lack of course selection at their school compared with Central.

This year, Hinsdale Central is offering 81 more unique courses than South, providing Central students nearly 50 percent more choice. South has a far greater number of low-income students than Central, which is twice South's size in enrollment.

South's supporters have pushed a boundary change to equalize enrollment between the two schools. But opponents in the Central area fear their property values would plunge if the district shifted them to the South zone.

Because of that, the disparity between the schools is a politically touchy topic. Board members rarely mention it.

The task force, however, seems to be a backdoor way to address the issue. In December, Walker prevented Levinthal, her former ally, from even making the case for the task force. Walker immediately asked for a show of hands for even allowing the discussion to go forward. Only three of the seven members raised their hands, so Walker stopped Levinthal from saying a word about it.

Under a new system at last week's meeting, members were allowed to make three-minute pitches for their ideas on items to place on future agendas. This time, member Jeff Waters made the case for the task force.

While he did not mention the disparity, Waters said the district should consider an expansion of remote platforms and staggered schedules between the schools as a way of increasing choice of courses for students.

Levinthal said the task force would be a way to review creative solutions.

Walker asked for a show of hands to include an agenda item at a later meeting about the task force. The hands of Levinthal, Waters and Peggy James went up. After a moment, member Cynthia Hanson also raised her hand. She is the only member who lives in the South zone.

This show of support means the board is set to have an agenda item on the task force. While the committee's apparent focus would be scheduling conflicts, the disparity may come up.