Hinsdale D86 Set To Pick Superintendent

HINSDALE, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board plans to choose a new superintendent Wednesday.

The board is releasing only a couple of details beforehand. Its agenda indicates it will vote on a three-year contract for a salary of $255,000.

That salary would be below former Superintendent Tammy Prentiss' $277,470. In June, the new board majority ousted her after four years at the helm.

Following Illinois tradition, the board kept the superintendent search shrouded in secrecy, with the finalists' names kept under wraps.

In other states, superintendent finalists' names are routinely released. Such openness rarely occurs in Illinois.

The board plans to start its meeting with a closed session before it emerges to vote on the contract.

As with other appointments, the board has likely settled on a superintendent candidate and will issue an already-drafted news release within minutes of its vote. New superintendents typically begin on July 1.

Following the vote, members are expected to close the doors again. Afterward, the board is set to vote on appointing a lawyer "for due diligence review of a parent complaint." The district has provided no details.

In September, the board voted 5-2 to hire the Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz law firm as the attorney to investigate a 6-day-old "message with parent concerns." (The two dissenters have since left the board.)

The board has not updated the public on that inquiry, and it has not given any clue on what it is investigating.

Since September, the district has paid Robbins Schwartz nearly $20,000, according to public records.

The firm was also hired to help the board oust Prentiss, who agreed to leave in return for receiving her annual salary another year and health benefits through March.

The district's main law firm is Itasca-based Hodges Loizzi.

Wednesday's meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in Hinsdale Central High School's Community Room.