'Staggering' Costs In D-86 Records Battles: Official

HINSDALE, IL — The president of the Hinsdale High School District 86 board said last week that the costs associated with public records fights were "staggering."

This was President Kevin Camden's response to a report that stated the district spent $138,000 over a decade in its public records battles.

The report came from the district's law firm, Arlington Heights-based Hodges Loizzi. According to the document, the district largely prevailed when those denied records took their complaints to the attorney general's public access counselor over the last four years. Camden noted those were the years he had been in office.

About the costs, Camden said at Thursday's board meeting, "That is pretty staggering. It just questions how resources are being spent. For those who claimed there was a lack of transparency, the record identifies otherwise. Every time the board has been challenged, the public access counselor found there has been no violations."

Camden did not mention that a third of the cost was a settlement in May with three critics of the district's changes to the science curriculum. The critics were prevented from speaking during public input. In the agreement, the critics dropped their lawsuit in return for the board letting them deliver their prohibited comments at a meeting.

The settlement also required the board undergo First Amendment training during a meeting.

Additionally, the district was required to cover the critics' $26,000 in legal bills. That was in addition to the district's $21,000 in bills, for a total of $47,000. All of those expenditures were covered by insurance, the district said.

2020 was the costliest of the years, with $41,890 spent in public records battles, not counting the $46,000 in settlement costs. One fight cost the district $19,010, according to the law firm. Another cost $8,210 before the requester withdrew the complaint.

Camden did not immediately return messages for comment.

Earlier this year, Camden announced at a meeting that he would no longer respond to constituents' emails, saying his comments had been "bastardized." He later ended the policy.