Schools
D86 Board Takes No Action Related to Dianne Barrett Suit
The District 86 Board of Education emerged from closed session Tuesday night and pulled from the agenda an item regarding "pending litigation."
No action was taken related to Dianne Barrett’s dismissed lawsuit during Tuesday night’s Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education meeting.
Emerging from a closed session that lasted from about 8 p.m. to about 9:30 p.m., board members pulled an action item regarding “pending litigation” from the agenda after not reaching consensus during their discussion, Board President Claudia Manley said.
She would not confirm that the item was related to Barrett’s lawsuit against the district.
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“I can’t comment on pending legislation,” she said.
What did get done Tuesday night? Approval of District 86's 2013 summer projects.
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Former Board President Dennis Brennan, a defendant in Barrett’s suit, has said that he believes the item being considered by the board in private is a proposed settlement agreement with Barrett. He sent his copy of the proposed settlement to news outlets earlier this month after Judge Paul Fullerton dismissed Barrett’s suit based on it being “moot” now that she is not a board member.
Under the proposed language sent out by Brennan and confirmed as real by District 86 attorney James Petrungaro, Barrett would be provided unredacted special-education-related documents from 2007 to 2009 that were denied her in 2009, leading to the lawsuit, as well as an audio recording of a closed-session meeting she missed in 2009.
Her lawyers would also be allowed to petition the court for reimbursement of legal fees.
“It doesn’t make any sense to settle a case after you’ve won when the law is clearly on your side,” Brennan said in a written statement accompanying the agreement.
He said he as a defendant would not agree to any settlement and “will fight the new board if they continue to move toward a settlement.”
Barrett was in attendance Tuesday night and confirmed to Patch what her attorney Clint Krislov said earlier this month, that an appeal of Fullerton’s dismissal is currently planned.
The pending legislation item was pulled Tuesday night along with a personnel item.
"They will be back on the agenda, it's just a matter of when," Manley said.
The next board meeting is Monday night at Hinsdale South.
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