'Hypocritical': Hinsdale D86 Debate Gets Heated

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 board members last week differed over whether to revise minutes from its closed meetings.

At one point, a member called another's statement "hypocritical."

A month ago, a 4-3 board majority approved the minutes, though two members said they contained problems.

On Thursday, the board was asked to vote on withdrawing five sets of those closed meeting minutes.

Members Debbie Levinthal and Kay Gallo wanted to do so. They said the minutes did not include a summary of all the topics discussed.

But member Peggy James said the minutes in question were complete and factual. She said she had seen proposed changes and that they did nothing to make the minutes more complete or factual.

This was where Levinthal said she disagreed. A year ago, Levinthal, James and Jeff Waters were in the minority when they walked out over the majority's expected vote to reject James' draft of minutes from closed sessions.

At Thursday's meeting, Levinthal pointed out the previous dispute.

"In fact, we actually had a whole board meeting devoted to this in this room, where you had drafted these really detailed minutes and we were fighting for them," Levinthal said. "And these (new) minutes are nowhere near that standard, and they don't meet the requirements set up by (the Open Meetings Act) because they don't even identify all the topics discussed."

She continued, "So I find your statement, especially sitting across the room, to be hypocritical to what you sat at this table and argued for."

A year ago, James said somebody – likely referring to then-board President Erik Held – wanted to make "personal preference" changes to the minutes. She said the current situation was similar.

In a 5-2 vote at Thursday's meeting, James, Waters, Terri Walker, Asma Akhras and board President Catherine Greenspon voted against withdrawing the minutes. Levinthal and Gallo dissented.

Last month, Akhras, who drafted the minutes, voted against approving them after Levinthal and Gallo raised objections.

Because the meetings in question are closed, the public is barred from seeing the minutes. The minutes are drafted for reference by current and future boards.

The suggestion of hypocrisy indicated a further distancing between Levinthal and James.

Last year, the two joined forces in filing a complaint with the attorney general over the district's denial of their request for board members' emails.

After the April election, though, James voted for Greenspon, not Levinthal, as president.

In 2021, Levinthal ran as a team with Terri Walker in their successful campaigns for the board. Over 10 ballots, Levinthal supported Walker for president. Walker finally prevailed.

Months later, Levinthal and Walker, who ran as agents of change, appeared to split as Walker often sided with the board's holdover members, making them a 4-3 majority.