Consultant 'Chased Out' Of Hinsdale D-86: Official

HINSDALE, IL – A Hinsdale High School District 86 board member has made rare public comments about the controversy involving an equity consultant.

Member Erik Held exchanged messages on the "D86Return2Excellence" Facebook page, a private group with nearly 300 members. The discussion was about Valda Valbrun, a North Carolina anti-racism consultant.

In January, Valbrun withdrew from consideration for a contract with District 86. In her letter, she cited hateful comments and called Hinsdale a "dangerous place."

In a Facebook post, Held said last week, "Remember we didn't even get a chance to have the formal, board-level interview with the consultant, as she was chased out of town."

Another page member replied, "'Chased out of town'? Her very divisive comments on Twitter should have excluded her from ever being considered for work with D86. Poor oversight in vendor selection."

The commenter was referring to Valbrun's tweet saying two Republican governors were the "devil."

"Just like Trump. I hope the entire GOP implodes," Valbrun wrote.

Held said he stood by his comments.

"There is no political litmus test to employment within the district for admin, staff, faculty, contract workers or consultants," he said.

Some of Held's comments were read at last week's school board meeting.

Valbrun's letter calling Hinsdale dangerous sparked a firestorm of criticism of Superintendent Tammy Prentiss.

Public records revealed that Prentiss added the language about Hinsdale being dangerous in an email to Valbrun titled, "Please preview." A district spokesman said Valbrun requested the words be added.

It was unclear why Prentiss was involved in the editing of the letter. She read the message at the Jan. 13 board meeting, angering many residents.

That issue and mask mandates fueled a movement against Prentiss. As of Monday, an online petition calling for her ouster has collected 1,300 signatures.

This is District 86's second controversy over anti-racism consultants this school year. In September, Saxman Consulting and Anew Collective Consulting agreed to terminate their contract for anti-racism training. That was after consultant Christine Saxman retweeted the message, "Cops quitting because they won't get vaxxed feels like a real two-birds-one-stone situation."