A Clash Over Hinsdale Central's Homecoming?

HINSDALE, IL — A Hinsdale High School District 86 board member last week brought up an apparent dispute over Hinsdale Central's homecoming plans.

During Thursday's board meeting, member Jeff Waters asked for the board to discuss at a later meeting about equity in activities between Central and South high schools — an issue he called "students first." He said the homecoming issue prompted his request.

For more than 20 minutes, the board debated whether to place the item on a future meeting agenda.

Near the end of the discussion, Central Principal Bill Walsh explained the homecoming debate, referring to "mistrust" in the matter. In response, Waters relented, saying he was confident the school would resolve it.

At the beginning, Waters said Central students were unhappy with homecoming plans. Complaints were emailed to board members earlier Thursday. Based on those communications, Waters said, "the narrative I heard today was troubling."

"The frequency of these anecdotes that have occurred over time would seem, to me, to generate this exploration into the 'students first' agenda items," he said. "Homecoming happens once a year for these kids. There's a lot of unhappy customers in the district."

Board member Kathleen Hirsman objected to the school board getting involved in what she considered a building-level issue.

"That is not the board's function — to jump in whenever there is some confusion or miscommunication regarding a particular program that is being operated at a particular school," she said.

At one point, Waters proposed the board discuss the matter behind closed doors, saying he did not want to discuss the details of the issue.. But others questioned whether they could do so under the state's open meetings law. Under that law, the board could hold a closed session to talk about specific students and employees, but not general issues for an event such as homecoming.

Board President Terri Walker invited Central Principal Bill Walsh to speak about homecoming. He said Varsity Club students approached the activities director earlier in the summer to propose a homecoming that would be more inclusive of underclassmen while still recognizing homecoming traditions.

Club members came up with an initial plan and engaged in a number of conversations with others, which some took "sideways," Walsh said.

"Student feedback will drive where we end up," he said. "We will have homecoming court, and we will have multiple pep assemblies associated with homecoming. What the final outcome will be Oct. 1, I don't know. It's not my decision."

He said it was best that the issue remain at the building level, rather than the school board.

"I wish these issues would start in the building, so we can resolve them and ease tensions, instead of raising everyone's anxiety and what feels like mistrust on the matter," Walsh said. "I feel like there is a lot of mistrust here. No one is trying to hide anything. It is student driven — teachers and staff members trying to find ways to support initiatives that kids bring."

Walsh did not detail the specific objections to the plan.

In response, Waters said he was confident the school would take care of the matter.

"It's unfortunate that it's an anecdote that has come to the board level," he said. "I assume it will be worked out with everyone in the building and the parties involved."