Hinsdale D86 Caribbean Trip Questioned

HINSDALE, IL – In October, two top officials from Hinsdale High School District 86 took a trip to the Dominican Republic.

It was put together by a group representing the state's school administrators. One of the three sponsors was a law firm that did more than $400,000 in business with the district last year.

The district was asked to spend $500 per person on the trip. The participants were Superintendent Tammy Prentiss and board member Terri Walker.

To upgrade to a single room, participants were asked to spend another $200. Both Prentiss and Walker apparently made that request, which totaled an extra $400.

Through a public records request, resident Yvonne Mayer obtained hundreds of pages of trip-related records. The documents showed the extra $400 for the officials came from an "anonymous" contributor.

When Patch emailed questions about the trip, a school spokesman last week did not answer the one about the anonymous donation.

Tammy Prentiss (left), superintendent of Hinsdale High School District 86, and then-board President Terri Walker attend a board meeting in early 2022. This was when the mask mandate was still in effect. (David Giuliani/Patch)

However, on Monday, the district acknowledged it foot the bill for the extra charges.

The sponsoring law firm was Hodges Loizzi, which specializes in representing schools.

The other two sponsors were Itasca-based DLA Architects and Oakbrook Terrace-based International Contractors, both of which do a lot of business with Illinois schools.

The five-day trip was organized by the Illinois Association of School Administrators and EF Educational Tours, which makes money by putting together student trips.

Under a district policy, board members and employees are barred from accepting gifts from contractors doing business or looking to do business with the district. Such businesses are known as "prohibited sources."

However, Steven Richart, an attorney with Itasca-based Hodges Loizzi, said the district was in compliance with the policy and state law. And he said his firm recognizes that it is a prohibited source.

"(The firm) was never solicited nor did it provide any gift or thing of value to any individual employee or Board member," he said in an email to Patch.

The donation, rather, was made to the administrators association, a federally recognized nonprofit group, he said.

"While there is therefore no need to justify the trip as an 'educational mission,' (the law firm) believes the trip provides invaluable opportunities to expose administrators and board members to international issues and problems, as (the firm's) attorney Tony Loizzi experienced firsthand," Richart said.

The firm had no role in selecting participants, with the association handling that job, Richart said. He said he was writing on behalf of the firm, not the district.

Last year, the law firm received $419,000 from the district, according to public records.

At a board meeting in late January, Prentiss showed a professionally made video of the trip. It documented more than 30 superintendents and board members from Illinois districts taking part. Their projects included activities with children, painting of murals and construction work.

Walker said she believed the district's students would benefit from such "service-oriented" experiences. She recommended the district pursue further discussions with EF Tours.

Prentiss sounded a similar note.

"I will certainly be working with some of the building reps to start thinking about what that may look like and some opportunities in the future for our students," she said.

On Monday, board President Held emailed resident Mayer. He copied it to everyone that Mayer included – Patch, the Hinsdalean, board members and board candidates in the April election.

He said EF Educational Tours logged the extra $400 as anonymous because it processed the payments through a contribution link. EF uses the same system for traveling students, he said.

"EF purposefully treated the traveling board members and superintendents as 'students' to experience the process as a student would," Held said.

Held also forwarded the recipients the law firm's statement to Patch, which he said helped clear up questions over the gift policy.

Held emailed Mayer three days after she informed the board she identified where the extra $400 came from. In an email, Mayer said Prentiss' administrative chief of staff, Debra Kedrowski, paid the bill through a district-issued credit card.

On Monday night, Mayer told Held in an email that the board ignored her repeated requests for the identity of the anonymous contributor.

She also disagreed with the law firm's explanation for the trip.

"(A)s to Mr. Loizzi's justification for going on this trip and his firm sponsoring the trip, you and I and the law firm will have to agree to disagree," Mayer said. "The community sees this for what it is and knows that it doesn't pass the smell test or comply with the standards set in the Illinois Code, which provides the only codified guidance in Illinois on what a mission really means."

The guidance from the state auditor general says such missions should have a close connection to the recipient officials' employment or the mission of the agency, predominately benefit the public and not the official, and be approved by an ethics officer if possible.