Hinsdale District 86 Discards Records Log That Officials Once Touted

DARIEN, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board voted Tuesday to do away with a public records log that officials once touted as an example of the district's openness.

It was gone by Wednesday morning.

Over the years, law firms have advised the district to eliminate the log, which contained the responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. They said the district could be liable for information that mistakenly got out.

The district was one of the few public bodies to maintain such a log. Others include Hinsdale District 181, the Illinois Tollway and the village of Bensenville.

The vote to eliminate the log was 6-1. Only Liz Mitha dissented.

Four years ago, a law firm's push to get rid of the log failed. The board took no formal vote, but five of the seven members rejected the idea.

At the time, member Jeff Waters, who supported the elimination Tuesday, spoke out against it.

He said removing the log would be "clearly a detriment to transparency." And he cast doubt on the liability argument.

He also suggested the idea came from then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss and the board's president at the time, Erik Held, both of whom he opposed on many issues.

In August, Waters indicated he was ready to abandon the log. At the time, Patch asked him about it. He declined to comment, referring questions to the board's president, Catherine Greenspon.

Last month, the Hinsdalean weekly newspaper questioned the proposed elimination of the 13-year-old log. It said the district should make a better case for it.

"Unless the district has been sued over information on the FOIA log — or can point to multiple instances in which suits have been filed in other districts — we'd like to see the FOIA log remain on the district's website," the newspaper said in an editorial.

The district's current law firm, Evergreen Park-based Odelson, made similar arguments to those of its predecessor.

But the firm introduced a new reason at the September board meeting.

"Could AI be used to take all this data and possibly identify students or security risks?" Odelson's Lauren DaValle said.

At the meeting, member Mitha opposed the removal.

"FOIA is used by the D86 community to improve transparency and to hold the district and elected board members accountable," she said.