LTHS May Be Ordered To Release More Recordings

LA GRANGE, IL – The Lyons Township High School board may have to release more recordings of its closed meetings about a controversial effort to sell land in Willow Springs.

In June, the board followed the attorney general's order to divulge the recordings from two closed sessions on Jan. 23. That's because the board broke the law by closing the doors to the public.

In 2022, the board held a half dozen closed meetings about the Willow Springs land. The attorney general is still reviewing whether those recordings also should be released.

Earlier this year, residents filed complaints with the attorney general's office about apparent Open Meetings Act violations.

In an email to one of the residents last month, Assistant Attorney General Ben Silver said he was reviewing the other recordings.

"I can't really give a timeline since my supervisors' review of that draft can really vary depending on a number of factors, including how much of the recordings they need to review themselves," Silver said.

At last month's school board meeting, a number of residents warned members that they should expect more orders from the attorney general to release recordings.

During the land sale process, the board said little about it publicly. They sat stone-faced during public comment sessions against the effort. On Jan. 23, members held two closed sessions, both before and after the open meeting, totaling more than two hours.

During the closed sessions, members acknowledged that selling the wooded land to an industrial buyer would hurt neighbors. A member suggested Willow Springs officials were "over their skis" and "naive" in response to the sale, even though the board acknowledged keeping information away from village officials. And another member advanced a conspiracy theory (his words) about the sale's opposition.

During the closed sessions, no member questioned whether the board was following the open meetings law. Nor did their lawyer, Ares Dalianis, who attended both sessions, try to steer the discussion toward topics that legally could be discussed in closed session. In Illinois, all board members for public bodies must take Open Meetings Act training.

Under the law, the board can discuss the setting of the price of real property behind closed doors. But the price only received passing mentions during the meetings.

Instead, the major topics were the conspiracy theory, the strategy for keeping information away from other public bodies and the need for money to pay for building projects. Under state law, those issues must be discussed in an open session.

In March, just weeks before the school board election, the board abandoned the effort to sell the land.

School board President Dawn Aubert has not returned Patch's messages for comment.

See other stories based on the recordings of the closed-door meetings on Jan. 23:

• LTHS Official Alleges Conspiracy Against School
• Did Election Sway LTHS Board On Willow Springs?
• LTHS Admission: Sale Would Hurt Neighbors
• Official Calls LTHS Comments 'Ignorant'
• Did LTHS Mislead The Public On Willow Springs?
• LTHS Slams Village Behind Closed Doors
• Colleagues Doubt LTHS Official's Conspiracy Theory
• LTHS Ties With Entities 'Napalmed': Superintendent