Hinsdale D86 More Secretive On Legal Bills

HINSDALE, IL – The president of the Hinsdale High School District 86 board took heat last year for the number of times her name appeared in the district's legal bills.

However, the district may have found a way to avoid such controversies: Just don't divulge the information.

In response to a resident's public records request, the district last week released the December invoice from the Oak Brook-based Engler, Callaway, Baasten & Sraga law firm.

But the district blacked out the names of the officials with whom the attorneys communicated. So the public has no way to determine how often board President Catherine Greenspon is using the law firm.

Last year, the district regularly released the names.

Under state law, the district has the right to redact certain attorney-client communications.

It was unclear why the district has clamped down on what it releases. An emailed message for comment left with the district's spokesman Friday went unreturned.

Last year, the district's legal bills surged under a different law firm, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz. In September, the firm terminated its relationship, saying the district was "unreasonably difficult" to serve.

As the costs rose, the firm's invoices came under greater scrutiny. In August, Greenspon had more contacts with Robbins Schwartz than the full-time superintendent, Michael Lach.

Since Greenspon took the helm in May 2023, her critics have accused her of micromanaging the administration. Board members, though, have defended her.

One of the board's more prominent critics is Greenspon's predecessor, Erik Held, who decided against running again in 2023.

"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."

Held was commenting on a new policy in which the superintendent must notify the president when consulting with the attorney.

Now, the district is declining to pay nearly $200,000in Robbins Schwartz bills.