Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Board President Dennis Brennan and board members Kay Gallo and DeeDee Gorgol say they will seek re-election in April; Dianne Barrett undecided
Three of the four Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education members whose seats will be up for election in April have confirmed they plan to be on the ballot once more. Board member Dianne Barrett, whose lawsuit against the district related to board member access to records is still ongoing, said she has not made her decision on 2013 yet. “At this time, I have a packet but I am undecided as to whether I am running,” Barrett said in an email. Barrett and board member Dr. Richard Skoda, whose seat is not up for election this time, frequently clash with a majority of board members whose de facto leader is Board President Dennis Brennan. He confirmed following Monday night’s school board meeting at Hinsdale South High School…
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Students will continue with the pullout program in elementary school, though they will not be bused to Monroe School each week.
It was another long night of District 181 board discussion Monday night at Elm School in Burr Ridge. District 181 administration presented a curriculum transition plan for the 2012-13 school year Monday night at a board of education meeting that rolled back some of the changes it proposed in a transition plan presented at the board’s April 9 meeting, including some the district planned to make to the ACE program. Scrapped by the latest transition proposal is the plan to give Personal Learning Plans (PLP) to current third- and fourth-grade ACE students in their home classrooms next year and discontinue the program’s pullout nature. If Monday’s plan is pursued, the elementary ACE program will remain a one-day-a-week pullout program in 2012-…
Friday, April 13, 2012
A new District 86 board policy regarding board member access to records would be included in what Barrett's lawyers hope will be their client's third amended complaint against the district.
Six months after he dismissed Dianne Barrett’s lawsuit against the leadership of Hinsdale Township High School District 86, DuPage Judge Thomas Dudgeon will hear arguments at a May 15 hearing on whether or not he should allow the board member to file a third amended complaint against Superintendent Dr. Nick Wahl and Board President Dennis Brennan regarding access to district records. In March, Dudgeon OK’d the reopening of one aspect of the suit that pertains to Barrett’s access to audiotapes of closed-session board meetings she missed. Executive director Natalie Brouwer Potts of the Center for Open Government, the organization supplying Barrett’s legal counsel, said she hopes the judge will expand that action to the entire suit, …
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The board member requested an investigation into whether the district acted illegally when it approved bonds last month that will fund the installation of air conditioning at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South.
Editor's note: District 86 announced in its Board Briefs newsletter on March 21 that Attorney General Lisa Madigan's Office alerted the district on March 19 that it doesn't plan on investigating the district for bond fraud. According to the district, the attorney general's office said it reviewed materials sent by the accuser, board member Dianne Barrett, as well as the response from the district's law firm, Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, and bond counsel, Chapman and Cutler, LLP. Madigan's office "[does] not anticipate taking any further action at this time." District 86's attorneys will reach out to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to find out whether either of those offices plans to …
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The school board considered making board agreements on official document access policy.
The issue of board members’ access to district documents is once again creating tension on the Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education less than two months after board member Dianne Barrett's much-publicized records lawsuit was dismissed. The board is considering making board agreements adopted last summer on access to documents official district policy. The agreements call for board members to “make efficient use of time and resources of the district.” Furthermore, “requests for information should not be a nuisance nor burdensome for the administration.” The board agreements define nuisance as “requesting documents within the archives of the district without pending action.” Burdensome is defined as “an inordinately …
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
An incident in the audience at the board's Dec. 12 meeting prompted a review of protocol.
Passions sometimes run high at Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education meetings and Board President Dennis Brennan sought at Monday night’s meeting at Hinsdale Central to ensure that those passions don’t run amok. Brennan said his push to promote civility at meetings was prompted by an incident that occurred in the audience during the board’s last meeting Dec. 12 at Hinsdale South. “At the last meeting, we had one of the residents stand up and tell us there was apparently some kind of threat in the audience,” Brennan said. “I know our meetings have become exciting to some extent. People want to give their opinion.” Brennan said there are two opportunities for audience members to address the board at every meeting—at …
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Board members Barrett and Skoda opposed the plan, which would also upgrade electrical infrastructure at both district high schools and address entry circulation problems.
Monday evening was unseasonably warm for mid-December, but the temperature inside Hinsdale South High School for the District 86 School Board meeting was cool. That was probably a good thing, since a discussion about air conditioning generated quite a bit of heat, not only among board members, but also in the audience. The meeting began with audience member George Logan delivering a lengthy analysis of district finances to argue against borrowing $17.96 million to complete the air conditioning of all classroom space at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South. Logan said district expenditures are trending up while revenues are trending down. “We’d be taking a risk to borrow anything,” he said. “It just seems like it’s flying against all the …
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
A majority of board members support a plan to begin implementation of the district’s Master Facilities Plan by borrowing $18 million
The Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education will hold a special meeting Dec. 5 to decide whether or not to borrow $18 million to pay for air conditioning and other facility improvements at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South. The majority of the board members at Monday night's board meeting at Central agreed to proceed with some of the first steps of the district’s Master Facilities Plan, which was adopted in 2010. Those steps include air conditioning classrooms at both schools that are not currently air conditioned at a cost of approximately $13 million. That price includes upgrading the existing electrical infrastructure at the schools to accommodate the air conditioning, as well as other HVAC improvements. The …
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Hinsdale Central High School
5500 S Grant St, Hinsdale, IL
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Board President Dennis Brennan asked board member Dianne Barrett to pay more than $50,000 in legal fees incurred by the district in her lawsuit against him and Superintendent Nicholas Wahl.
The fallout from a judge’s decision Friday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Hinsdale Township High School District 86 board member against the president of the board of education and the superintendent spread over Monday night’s school board meeting like an angry dark cloud. Board member Dianne Barrett had sought a court order to gain access to documents pertaining to the district’s special education program. But Judge Thomas Dudgeon dismissed the case Friday, citing restrictions delineated in the Illinois Student Records Act. Board President Dennis Brennan, named as a defendant in the suit along with Superintendent Nicholas Wahl, passed out a copy of the judge’s order to board members Monday night during their regular monthly meeting at …
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Hinsdale Central High School
5500 S Grant St, Hinsdale, IL
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Vinaya Sharma said Monday night the inflatable domes would more than pay for themselves.
Former Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education member Vinaya Sharma believes inflatable domes over athletic practice fields are a good idea for both Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South high schools. Sharma explained his rationale at the start of Monday night’s board meeting during time allotted for audience communication. “Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central could inflate domes every winter, starting in November 2012 and take them down every spring,” Sharma said. “The schools would use the domes during and immediately after school for P.E., intramurals, and other extra-curricular activities. They would then rent the domes for after-school use on nights and weekends. Rental revenues would pay back the cost of the domes …
Another D181 Parent
5:51 pm on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
I couldn't agree more with Mr. Woodward's comments not to mention that the taxpayers funded a $50,000 review of the gifted program from a team of experts whose findings are being completely ignored by D181 administrators. more ›