Why Does Equity Expert Want $2,500 From D-86?

HINSDALE, IL — An anti-racism consultant's request last month for $2,557 in reimbursements from Hinsdale High School District 86 lacked any details.

Yet she implied she may take legal action against the district for denying it.

On Tuesday, Patch reported about the request from Valda Valbrun, a Charlotte, N.C.-based consultant. She was poised to get a contract for anti-racism training in the district before she withdrew Jan. 13, sparking a controversy.

In a Jan. 19 email, Valbrun emailed Superintendent Tammy Prentiss saying the district owed her the money. She said the invoice was attached, but a public records request did not yield the document.

On Wednesday, the district confirmed that Prentiss and Josh Stephenson, the district's chief financial officer, did not receive the attachment.

Valbrun has not returned messages for comment.

Her expenses were likely related to her trip to Hinsdale on Nov. 17, when she and other consultants made presentations to a district selection committee. She was given eight days' notice of the meeting.

Although airfares change all the time, a flight from Charlotte to Chicago would cost less than $400 for a round-trip flight next week.

Prentiss forwarded Valbrun's request for a reimbursement to Stephenson. He emailed Valbrun that the district could not reimburse any company for costs related to taking part in a public procurement process.

Valbrun responded, "The refusal to pay my invoice is small in comparison to the damages I should and could seek for the harassment, threats and mental anguish your district has caused me. I will be conferring with my attorney."