Secret Contracts At Lyons Township High

LA GRANGE, IL – A couple of years ago, the Lyons Township High School board secretly pushed to hire a public relations firm to deal with the expected controversy over selling land to an industrial developer in Willow Springs.

Also in closed session, members gave their "verbal authorization" for the school to hire a demographer to project long-term enrollment.

Under the state Open Meetings Act, the board can only take action in an open session. But closed-session recordings show the board spoke about the need for public relations and the enrollment study, even though such discussions are supposed to be held publicly.

"They can't do anything in closed session," said John Kraft, co-founder of the downstate Edgar County Watchdogs, a group that has long advocated for open government. "Any contract has to be approved in open session."

In a statement to Patch, the school's spokeswoman, Mary Lin Muscolino, said the board delegated its authority to enter into contracts to the superintendent, which is allowed under board policies.

"The Board did not vote on approval of contracts in closed session," Muscolino said. "Rather, the Superintendent entered into the contracts on behalf of the Board in accordance with his delegated authority based on School District operational needs identified by the board members."

In the closed meetings, board members said they wanted to keep both arrangements secret. They wanted to hold off until the school went public with selling the 70-acre site, which is next to houses and an elementary school. Members expected neighbors to oppose the sale.

The enrollment study was designed to counter those who argued the school needed the land. More than six decades ago, the school bought the site during a time of quickly rising enrollment, with the hope of using it for a third campus.

But the school's enrollment flattened by the 1970s. In 2022, board members feared residents would interpret a vote to hire the demographer, John Kasarda, as a signal that the school was preparing to sell the land.

During a May 2022 closed session, Superintendent Brian Waterman suggested the board give its "verbal authorization" to hire the demographer, rather than vote on it publicly.

"My concern is that that would draw some attention to it," Waterman said.

Board members agreed.

"Time is of the essence," member Jill Beda Daniels said.

Then-member Dawn Aubert said she was against involving any of the local elementary school districts in the study.

"It will raise more attention," she said.

Board members also spoke about the need for a public relations firm.

Waterman said he would follow through.

"We'll move forward with the Kasarda projections, and we'll engage with a PR firm," he said.

No one objected.

Waterman later signed a year's contract with the Milwaukee-based Donovan Group. The firm worked for the school for a year starting July 1, 2022, receiving a total of $48,000. A Donovan partner, Jerry Gallagher, handled the account and attended two closed meetings.

The board saw the first draft of Kasarda's report in August. But the report wasn't discussed in public until mid-December, a couple of weeks after the school announced it wanted to sell the land.

The hiring of the Donovan Group was kept secret until the school board released the closed-session recordings last month. That was after the attorney general determined the board violated the Open Meetings Act by closing the doors repeatedly. In response to the attorney general last month, Jill Grech, the board's president, blamed the law firm for the violations.

After Patch's first story on the recordings last week, Grech issued another statement, saying the board "acted and reacted" based on the advice from the lawyer and the public relations firm. That was believed to be the first public mention of the firm.

Even the most diligent citizen would have struggled to discover the Donovan Group's involvement. Unlike many other schools, including Hinsdale High School District 86, Lyons Township High does not post its accounts payable to the board's regular meeting agendas. The school publishes the most recent month's list of bills online, but wipes that away each month to make way for the new one.

Gallagher, the Donovan Group's representative, did not return a message for comment.

In an email to Patch, Muscolino said the Donovan Group handled other responsibilities besides the public relations around the land sale.

"The Donovan Group worked with me during my department's transition period (staff turnover)," she said. "They assisted with multiple communication tasks including things like updating the District website, social media posts and video creation. They were extremely helpful in assisting with the day-to-day tasks of the Community Relations department."