Hinsdale Schools Address Retribution Reports

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale High School District board members say they have seen no evidence of retribution against teachers who opposed the district's controversial plan for science classes, despite reports to the contrary. Members said they would be unhappy to see any retaliation.

At last month's board meeting, administrators assured the board they have not retaliated against faculty who have disagreed with curriculum changes.

Board President Nancy Pollak brought up the alleged retribution, saying she had not seen it. "We don't always agree, but we have an open conversation," she said.

Hinsdale Central High School Principal Bill Walsh said he had spoken with teachers about the curriculum changes.

"I went in with an open heart and an open mind and met with them," the principal said. "We had a heart-to-heart conversation. We're moving forward."

Board member Kevin Camden said he has received emails and seen social media posts about alleged retribution, but has not seen any evidence of it. He said he has heard reports that teachers would not sign letters of protest because of fears of retaliation.

"I'm not aware of it as a board member," Camden said. "For me as a board member, if there is a sense that discord will be put down violently and people will be given less favorable schedules or teachers will be marginalized because of it, that's a problem for me, but I haven't seen it."

He said his impression was that the high schools are holding meetings with faculty and receiving both positive and negative feedback.

"I want to dispel the notion or address it publicly, so the board — I believe I am speaking for the seven of us — won't stand for anything like (retribution)," Camden said.

Administrators told the board they had built cultures where faculty and staff, regardless of rank or title, could come forward with concerns.

In November, the school board approved a plan where students would take physics as freshmen, chemistry as sophomores and biology as juniors. That is a reverse of the traditional sequence of science classes. Each of the classes, the district said, would include earth science concepts.

The district said that besides aligning curricula between Central and South, it also wanted to increase student exposure to core sciences and enroll them in more than the required two years of science, noting many colleges suggest three years.

The curriculum changes drew a storm of opposition, with many parents speaking out at recent board meetings. They questioned the wisdom of requiring physics in the first year of high school, rather than in the later years.

The parents also argued the plan was effectively removing classes from Central to bring equity with South. If anything, they said, the district should add classes at South, rather than removing them from Central.

In a statement in mid-December, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said the administrative team did an "ineffective job" in communicating changes to the district's science program.

"I want to apologize for the ineffective job our administrative team did of communicating about this important topic," Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said in a mass email Thursday morning. "By not undertaking these efforts until a few months ago, we created a great deal of unnecessary confusion, concern and angst for our current and future families."

Prentiss, who was hired as superintendent last year, said the district did a "disservice" to the district's teachers, who spent hundreds of hours on the effort. She pledged to work closely with teachers and be more proactive and thoughtful in communicating changes to programs.

In her statement, Prentiss said the district would extend the rollout of the changes.