The Pivotal Vote On Hinsdale D-86 Board

HINSDALE, IL — Three newly elected members of the Hinsdale High School District 86 board have made it clear: They want to keep the traditional science curriculum.

Three other members, all holdovers from the previous board, support reversing the sequence of classes to physics for freshmen, chemistry for sophomores and biology for juniors. They voted for that in 2019, a move that is slated to take effect next school year.

That leaves the board's president, Terri Walker. She has been largely quiet in the debates, but appears open to a compromise. She could not be reached for comment for this story.

On Thursday night, the district's program of studies is on the board's agenda. The document includes offering both sequences of science classes.

In a Patch election questionnaire earlier this year, Walker said the most pressing issue facing the district was restoring the highly rated STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) curriculum. Over the summer, a 4-3 majority, including Walker, overturned the previous board's changes to the math curriculum. But the board has been stuck on the science program for months.

In the questionnaire, Walker said a "physics first" curriculum is rare. Those schools with the reversed sequence, she said, typically also offer the "biology first" version.

"Physics First limits the STEM focused students and does not provide the level of rigor found in a traditional physics class that is math based," Walker said.

At a meeting in July, members on both sides appeared to support a compromise on the science program that would give students a few more options — for instance, AP Physics 1. The cost increase would be negligible. Offering both sequences, officials said at the time, would cost the district an extra $1.6 million a year.

By the next month, members Debbie Levinthal, Jeff Waters and Peggy James indicated they would oppose the compromise. Walker, who ran as a team with Levinthal in the April election, did not join them.

When Walker was asked to reopen the discussion at an August board meeting, she said it would violate protocols. She said the board was set to get the details of a compromise at an October meeting.

Levinthal said it would only be a five-minute discussion to clarify the direction to staff. Waters made a similar point.

"I will not agree to a discussion," Walker said. "I think we have to move to the next agenda item."

And she did.

Later in the meeting, Walker joined the three board holdovers — Erik Held, Kathleen Hirsman and Cynthia Hanson — in opposing the other members' request that the science curriculum be discussed at the next meeting.

Earlier this month, the district's staff proposed offering both sequences, moving toward the position of the new board members. The revised cost estimate is far smaller, involving the hiring of one or two teachers.

However, the new members continued to question the physics first plan, with Levinthal saying it would mean the end of Hinsdale Central's "storied" earth science program.

Last week, Levinthal's husband, Dan Levinthal, denounced a physics first curriculum, accusing the district of using students as "lab rats" in its "race to mediocrity." He made the statement at a meeting of the board for School District 181, which serves elementary and middle school students in Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills.

With the science program changes, he said, it would be understandable if local parents enrolled their children in private schools or moved away to another district.

Debbie Levinthal has not spoken publicly in such dire terms. She did not return a call for comment this week.