LTHS Admits Open Meetings Violations

LA GRANGE, IL – In response to a complaint from residents, Lyons Township High School last week acknowledged its violations of the state's open meetings law.

In a letter to the attorney general Wednesday, the school's lawyer said officials failed to cite the legal exception for the board to close its doors. This happened a half dozen times for closed meetings from April to November last year. The topic was the plan to sell the school's land in Willow Springs.

The board did not publicly reveal its interest in selling the 71 acres until Nov. 30, prompting months of objections. With the school board election less than a month away, the board on Friday announced it was backing off its effort to price the land to attract an industrial developer. Willow Springs' zoning barred industrial uses for the property in question.

In the letter, attorney Brian Crowley said the failure to give the public the justification for the closed sessions was an "unintentional" oversight. The board, he said, used its typical template for closed meetings.

Crowley also confirmed the board failed to meet the Open Meetings Act's requirement to hold a half-year review of closed session minutes, which he called an "unintentional" oversight. The review is when a public body is supposed to determine whether the need for confidentiality still exists.

The board plans to hold its next such review March 20, Crowley said.

Now, the attorney general's office must rule whether the school violated the Open Meetings Act.