LTHS Official Answers Social Media Criticism

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School board member Jill Beda Daniels is responding to criticism over the board's admitted violations of the state's open meetings law.

Some residents are alleging that Daniels, a candidate in the April 4 school board election, has greater responsibility related to those violations than other board members, given that she is an attorney.

On Wednesday, Daniels asked for an opinion from the school's lawyers, the Chicago-based Franczek law firm, which represents many school districts.

She told Patch in an email that she had seen comments about her role on social media. She said she wanted the school's lawyers to correct the record.

Later the same day, Franczek attorney Sally Scott told Daniels that she had no heightened responsibility over other board members.

"You are not legal counsel to the Board and may rely on legal counsel of the Board attorney like any other Board member," Scott said. "Your occupation as an attorney does not create a separate obligation for you that is above other Board members."

Complaints have been filed with the attorney general against the school. It contends the board violated the Open Meetings Act six times last year by not citing the exception under the law for closing the doors.

The subject of the meetings was later determined to be the controversial plan to sell the school's land in Willow Springs.

In a response to the attorney general, another attorney from the Franczek firm, Brian Crowley, admitted the school failed to cite the legal exception to close the doors.

In her letter to Daniels, Scott said the attorney general has not made any findings that the board violated the open meetings law.

"The District has acknowledged some minor technical oversights regarding the motion for entering closed session and the review of closed session minutes," Scott said.

In an email to Patch, Daniels said all seven board members have taken Open Meetings Act training, as the law requires. She also said the school's attorneys attended the closed sessions in question. That means the lawyers were present when the violations occurred.

Daniels also said the board changed its practice and started citing the right exceptions. That was in December, more than a month before Patch revealed that the board appeared to have repeatedly violated the open meetings law.

In response, the school said the board has historically used the same general template to outline potential reasons for closed-session discussions. That template did not include the exception for the purchase of real estate.

In her email, Daniels said attorneys are now reviewing the board's agendas, while they did not do so before. The previous agenda template for closed meetings, she said, was "too general."

She also said the previous board, under President Thomas Cushing, failed to allow public comments during half of the board's meetings – those labeled as "committee of the whole." Under state law, the board must permit such comments at all meetings.

"Note this was changed under (board President Kari) Dillon, and we actually provided more transparency for the community from streaming meetings, allowing public comment at (committee of the whole) and moving meetings to evenings to allow for more of the community to participate," Daniels said.