HINSDALE, IL – School board members, even the president, are considered part time.
But according to Hinsdale High School District 86’s August legal invoice, board President Catherine Greenspon had more contacts with the district’s law firm than the full-time superintendent.
On Wednesday, the district released its August legal bills in response to a public records request from resident Yvonne Mayer.
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The district’s former law firm, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz, billed the district $132,000 that month, an unusually high amount.
Last week, the school board voted unanimously against paying the firm, with members saying they wanted a fuller explanation.
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Patch analyzed the 124 pages of the legal bills.
In August, Kari Smith, assistant superintendent of student services, appeared in 101 items in the bills. She deals with student matters and special education issues.
Coming in second was Deb Kedrowski, the superintendent’s administrative chief of staff, whose name appeared in 83 items.
In the third position was Greenspon, who was listed in 60 items. She edged out Superintendent Michael Lach, who appeared 58 times. Board member Peggy James was next at 22 times. Filling out the list were various staffers.
At last week’s board meeting, two members said they had no contact with the law firm. Another said she inquired about the bills, while still another said he reached out to the firm just once. (One member was absent.)
But Greenspon and James remained silent, not saying how often they reached out to the firm.
For her part, Greenspon’s name appeared in sections of the heavily redacted bills dealing with the board’s fight against a controversial proposed tax district in Clarendon Hills, board policies, personnel and Freedom of Information Act requests. And James, the board’s policy committee chairwoman, was listed in the parts about policies and the Freedom of Information Act.
The board, particularly Greenspon, has been accused of micromanaging the administration. One of the board’s more prominent critics is Greenspon’s predecessor Erik Held, who decided against running again last year.
“They desire more and more micromanagement and direct responsibility of the day-to-day District operations,” Held said in a June email to the board. “That is well beyond your purview, and inserting the president at all times between the superintendent and district attorney is a glaring example of this.”
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Held was commenting on a new policy in which the superintendent must notify the president when consulting with the attorney.
According to the bills, a fifth of the costs went to the district’s battle with Clarendon Hills over a tax increment district, or TIF.
The next biggest category – 17 percent – involved bill titles that were blacked out, presumably because of the privacy of attorney-client communications.
Student matters and Freedom of Information Act requests each took up 11 percent of the costs. The other top topics were a personnel investigation (10 percent), special education (9 percent), board policies (7 percent) and personnel (6 percent).
The investigation appeared to involve a personnel issue in the athletic department. The items listed the names of Jodi Bryant, assistant superintendent of human resources; Michael Jezioro, Hinsdale Central’s athletic director; and Bill Walsh, Central’s principal.
In early September, Robbins Schwartz ended its relationship with the school board, saying District 86 was “unreasonably difficult” to serve.
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