Hinsdale D86 Leader's Sidelining Continues In Final Months

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86's superintendent, Michael Lach, has more than three months left on the job. The public hears from him less and less.

As Patch reported two weeks ago, available meeting minutes show that Lach stopped attending meetings of the school board's committees on Oct. 1. He attended nearly all of them before.

Lach also rarely speaks during board meetings these days.

At the same time, he still shows up for work and attends board meetings.

Officials, including Lach, have not answered Patch's inquiry about Lach's apparently changing role. Last August, he announced his retirement as of June 30, a year early under his three-year contract.

Thursday's board meeting demonstrated Lach's retreat from public view.

One of the biggest issues for any school district is the annual staffing plan. It's particularly important in District 86, with Hinsdale South historically getting the short end of the stick on course offerings.

During a meeting a year ago, Lach led the presentation on the staffing proposal. He let other officials speak as well, saying, "I've already talked too much."

During this year's staffing presentation, Lach said not a word. The same went for a board meeting two weeks earlier when board members discussed the topic.

At the meeting a year ago, Lach spoke about a variety of subjects, including summer school. His monthly superintendent's report lasted more than 10 minutes, as many did.

At Thursday's meeting, Lach's report took less than a minute and a half. He spoke about survey response rates and the coming spring break.

In recent meetings, board members have said they wanted to get feedback on issues from AI to staffing from the incoming superintendent, Chip Pettit. He starts July 1, but is getting paid to do work before then.

No one called for consulting with the person still sitting in the superintendent's chair – the person being paid $264,000 a year.

Pettit himself apparently wants to hold off on recommendations on at least one issue for the time being.

During the staffing presentation, Hinsdale Central's principal, Bill Walsh, relayed that Pettit wanted to get a better understanding of the organization before weighing in on staff changes.

"He was trusting us as leaders and learning a little bit about us to make those recommendations," the principal said.

Pettit was mentioned 11 times during Thursday's meeting. Lach was noted just once, which was when board President Catherine Greenspon referred to Lach's comments on spring break.

Over the last few years, District 86 has seen a lot more administrative turnover than most of its counterparts.