Hinsdale D86 Breaks Silence On Official's Resignation

HINSDALE, IL – Until Thursday, Hinsdale High School District 86 had been publicly silent on the sudden resignation Monday night of board member Debbie Levinthal, who criticized her colleagues on the way out.

Prompted by a resident's question, though, interim Superintendent Linda Yonke said Thursday the district planned to announce the vacancy in its weekly email to the community on Monday.

"This publication reaches the widest audience, and we thought that would be the best way to notify the largest number of people," Yonke said in an email to the resident.

She said the board would set a plan for filling the vacancy at its Oct. 2 meeting. The Regional Office of Education, she said, has already been notified.

"The Board has sixty days to fill the vacancy, but will not necessarily take that long," Yonke said.

Yonke was responding to an email from Burr Ridge resident Richard Morton, who has closely watched District 86 for years.

Morton, who copied Patch in his email to the school board, said he was concerned by the district's silence on Levinthal's departure. He urged the district to publicly announce her resignation.

He said he was saddened to hear the news about Levinthal, saying she brought "exceptional insight, wisdom, and integrity to the position."

"Despite the opportunity given to D86 by voters to make swift and needed decisions to begin repairing years of damage, the board has allowed their egos to get in the way," Morton said.

He continued, "Their poor leadership has led to irregular actions, such as claims of open meeting violations, adoption of error-filled minutes, conducted improper board proceedings in the absence of Robert's Rules of Order, micromanagement of the superintendent, and now a board motion resulting from a closed meeting on sensitive matters that revealed information best left to a closed meeting."

In her resignation letter, Levinthal said she was fed up with a "toxic exercise in futility and frustration."

"My personal guiding principles, though, have led me to conclude that my moral and ethical compasses are too divergent from, and are clearly irreconcilable with those of the board majority," Levinthal said.