Hinsdale D86 Defends Closed-Door Actions

HINSDALE, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board has the right to carry out what appears to be a "substantive decision" made behind closed doors, its lawyer said Monday.

The attorney responded to a complaint from Patch that the board violated the state's open meeting law when it apparently decided in closed session to suspend the superintendent and name an acting superintendent.

The law requires that nearly all votes be taken in public, although certain discussions, including those about specific employees, can be held in a closed session.

In a letter to the attorney general, lawyer Matthew Swift pointed to previous rulings that he said indicated the board did not take what would constitute "final action" in its May 15 closed session.

The portion of his letter about the closed-door discussions was blacked out.

In the unredacted parts, Swift was careful to word his response to avoid saying that the board made a "final decision" in the closed meeting. But he acknowledged the district announced the next day that Prentiss was on leave and Covino was in charge. He did not identify who made the decisions.

Swift also said the attorney general has found a board member can execute and carry out a "substantive decision" that the board later approves in an open session.

Nine days later, the board held a meeting in which it "affirmed" Prentiss' suspension and Covino's selection. In his letter, Swift said past rulings indicate the board did not even have to take the vote in open session at the later meeting.

Swift said that if the attorney general's office finds the board broke the law, it should determine that the later vote "cured" the violation.

On May 15, the board voted to hire Swift's firm, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz, as the special counsel for an investigation into the superintendent.

Since the board's mid-May decisions, board President Catherine Greenspon has declined Patch's requests for comment.

Late last month, the board approved a severance agreement with Prentiss. She'll get her full salary this budget year.