Hinsdale South Parents Slam Athletic Director's Performance

DARIEN, IL – The head of a parents group at Hinsdale South High School on Monday denounced the performance of Hinsdale South High School's athletic director, Art Ostrow.

Afterward, a school board member said he had heard similar criticism for years.

This comes on top of recent unhappiness among departing coaches.

At a special school board meeting, Heather Ruff, president of the Hinsdale South Parent Athletic Club, said the group had seen the decline of athletic programs over the years.

"This is about Art and Hinsdale athletics," Ruff said. "There is a lack of community awareness, a lack of support of the athletes, and ultimately, it impacts the reputation of the school, not just the athletics."

Ruff said her group mostly focuses on fundraising, but has changed its mission, in part, to repair the athletic department's reputation and try to get the community excited again about the school's sports.

"While we are happy and motivated to do that, I don't think it's the responsibility of a volunteer organization to take on that task," Ruff said.

Ruff said it would be easy to blame the coaches, noting the revolving door in many positions.

"This is more of an issue at the top," she said. "This is who is managing them. And that would be Art."

Another parent, Chris Mezzo, said he had lost confidence in Ostrow's leadership and the process used to address concerns about the official's performance.

"Our athletic director should be a visible and engaged leader. Students and parents should see that person attending important events, communicating consistently, supporting every fan (and) every program fairly and taking ownership when problems arise," Mezzo said. "That is not the leadership members of the community believe they are seeing."

He asked the board to launch an independent review of Ostrow's performance, the operation of the athletic department and the adequacy of the school district's oversight. The inquiry, he said, should seek confidential feedback from current and former students, parents, coaches and staff.

"It should produce publicly documented findings and clear follow-through, not another private meeting," he said.

After the comments, Jeff Waters, the board's longest-serving member, said he has heard similar concerns and criticisms since he was elected in 2021.

Over the last year, South's athletic department has seen more than 30 resignations of coaches and assistant coaches. Two were particularly critical of the school's administration. Neither mentioned Ostrow by name.

Patch left messages for comment Monday afternoon with Ostrow and Kari Peronto, South's principal.