Anti-Racist Email Released By Hinsdale D-86

HINSDALE, IL – Earlier this month, the state attorney general's office determined Hinsdale High School District 86 had the right to keep emails related to an old anti-racist contract secret.

But it requested the district release a portion of one email by Superintendent Tammy Prentiss in September 2021. The district honored that request Monday.

The emails were between board members and Prentiss over a controversial tweet by one of the district's anti-racist consultants.

The released email was about a half page, with the remainder of the page blacked out. Prentiss was apparently answering a question from board member Debbie Levinthal about previous contracts with anti-racist consultants.

The previous year, the district signed a contract with Anew Collective Consulting and Saxman Consulting for $69,300. That never went before the board for a vote.

The next year, in August 2021, the board voted 5-2 for a new annual contract with the same consultants.

The question emerged about why the previous year's contract never underwent board scrutiny.

In her email, Prentiss explained the anti-racist training was just for teachers the previous year. The following year, she said, it was for parents, residents and students for the first time.

"I made the decision to have this year's contract public facing since the professional development was more than our employees," the superintendent said in the email.

Professional development activities and contracts, she said, are approved through the annual budget process. This was the district's explanation last year upon Patch's inquiry.

A couple of weeks ago, the attorney general's office largely sided with the district in response to complaints by Patch, a resident and two of the district's own board members. The parties said the correspondence about the since-expired contract should be public records.

Board members Peggy James and Debbie Levinthal, who took the matter to the attorney general, have said publicly they had no problem with the district releasing their emails.

At the same time, the two board members have not released the correspondence themselves. No law bars them from doing so.

The district kept the documents secret, arguing they were about pending business. The state's open records law allows public bodies to keep such communications secret, as long as they do not involve a quorum of a board. This allows officials to frankly discuss matters to make informed decisions.

Patch and the others contended the exemption did not apply to correspondence about the previous year's contract. The attorney general said the emails were too closely related to a pending decision about whether to terminate the consultants' contract.