The Cost of Elmhurst D-205's Secrecy

ELMHURST, IL — Last year, the attorney general found that Elmhurst School District 205 violated state law when the school board met behind closed doors to discuss an administrative reorganization. But the school district stuck to its position and declined to release the audio, saying it complied with the state's open meetings law.

So former Elmhurst resident Edgar Pal, who asked for the attorney general's opinion, sued the district to require it to release the recording. A few months later, the district settled with Pal, agreeing to release nearly all of the audio.

This dispute came at a cost to taxpayers. And Pal was able to get the expenses through a public records request to the district. In the fight to keep the meeting recording secret, the Chicago-based Franczek law firm charged the district $6,164, of which the district's insurance company paid two-thirds. The district's part was $2,024.

As part of the settlement, the district agreed to cover Pal's legal costs, which amounted to $4,000. So the total for the taxpayers was about $6,000.

The attorney general determined that most of the June 18, 2018, closed meeting in question should have been open to the public. Under state law, public bodies can close the doors to discuss specific personnel, collective bargaining and salary schedules. But they are not allowed to talk in secret about general personnel issues, which is what they did behind closed doors.

In settling the case, the district redacted small portions of the transcript and audio that it said dealt with specific personnel. Brian Crowley, an attorney with Franzek, signed an affidavit to that effect.

The release of the recording revealed a blunt discussion among board members. The superintendent presented an administrative reorganization plan. The main item was creating a human resources director position, which would be in addition to an assistant superintendent for human resources. Other items called for enhancing the titles of some positions.

"Other districts have less hierarchy in human resources," board member Karen Stuefen said during the 34-minute closed session. "You have other districts that are larger than ours and they don't have the same structure."

Stuefen said it wasn't right to have "such large titles, so many of them, more than other districts, and they have more people and employees they have to manage."

Stuefen said she asked Superintendent Dave Moyer for the administrative costs per student, but she did not receive an answer.

Instead, Moyer said he was planning to do another study in 2019 on administrative spending but that he believed the district was in the middle of the pack in that category. When others said he could easily get that information from the Illinois Report Card site, Moyer said it was more valuable to compare Elmhurst with similar districts.

As a compromise, Moyer suggested a possible phase-in of the reorganization, so the district could move away from the possible perception that "we're just indiscriminately adding administration."

Other members expressed support for the proposal.

"I, for one, have no problem with this plan," member Jim Collins told Moyer. "We're providing an upward career path. People work for titles... You offer a higher title, you get a better person. You get a better pool of candidates for the job."

In open session, the board voted 5-2 for the reorganization, with Stuefen and Shannon Ebner dissenting. That was after less than a minute of public discussion.

A school spokeswoman did not have a comment on the costs of keeping the meeting recording secret.