Purpose Of Hinsdale D86 Lawyer Still Secret

HINSDALE, IL – It remains unclear why a law firm continued to bill Hinsdale High School District 86 after it apparently completed its only job.

In mid-May, the school board hired the Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz firm the same day that it decided in a closed meeting to suspend the superintendent and name an interim leader. (The attorney general is investigating whether the board followed the open meetings law.)

At the May 12 meeting, the board said it was hiring the lawyer to provide legal advice and "other services related to the employment, compensation, performance, and potential discipline or dismissal of a current employee..."

The employee appeared to be then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss. The new board majority was looking to oust her; it succeeded in doing so near the end of June.

Patch recently filed a public records request for the district's engagement letter with Robbins Schwartz.

The district provided the document. But it blacked out the few words that indicated what the attorney's purpose would be. The district says state law allows it to keep such information secret from the public.

The letter was addressed to board President Catherine Greenspon, who has not returned Patch's messages since taking the helm in May.

On June 26, the board settled with Prentiss, in which she agreed to resign in return for receiving her annual salary and health benefits over the next year.

At that point, it seemed Robbins Schwartz's work was done. Yet it charged another $17,357 in July, in addition to the $56,187 it made in May and June.

In September, the board voted 5-2 to hire Robbins Schwartz for a new mission. It was to investigate a 6-day-old "message with parent concerns."

In the May engagement letter, the firm listed its charges. The time of a top partner costs $305 an hour, compared with $245 for the lowest-ranking associate.