Hinsdale D86 May Further Curtail Records Access

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 is the rare government body that posts the results of many public records requests online, providing an unusual amount of openness with the public.

Over the last couple of years, though, it has reduced the records database. It is poised to do so again.

On New Year's Eve 2023, a district employee removed the records from 2013 to 2021 from the online portal, apparently at the direction of higher-ups. The public was not told.

The district called the process "archiving." Officials objected to using words such as "erased" and "deleted."

When the action was discovered months later, officials cited broken links in older requests. But they did not identify a public benefit for deleting the records from the website.

Last fall, the district said it would only keep the current year of files online, plus the two previous calendar years. The removal would take place every New Year's Eve. For instance, last New Year's Eve, the district removed the 2022 files.

The holiday assignment has been given to Deb Kedrowski, the district's administrative chief of staff.

At Thursday's meeting, the board is set to look at a proposal to destroy the "currently archived" records from June 2013 to June 2015.

Hinsdale School District 181 and the village of Bensenville also publish the results of many records requests. District 181's online records go back more than a decade, while Bensenville's date back to 2017.

After Patch spotlighted District 86's action last fall, board President Catherine Greenspon said at a board meeting that the district could have done a better job in communicating its plan.

But she said it was not a "nefarious plot to somehow limit information to the community."

"It's unfortunate that that is the narrative that is unfolding," she said.

Greenspon was responding to criticism, which came even from allies.

At a December board meeting, Kedrowski detailed the planned New Year's Eve removal of website records. In a memo, she let residents know how they can export the records before they are wiped away from the site.

The district says all the records are still available upon filing a Freedom of Information Act request.