DARIEN, IL – The Hinsdale High School District 86 board approved another $71,900 in legal spending Thursday night.
No one discussed the bill, which is historically high.
Based on the date of invoices, legal spending amounted to $662,146 in the budget year that ended June 30.
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The district’s online records don’t indicate the periods for those bills, so the actual spending attributed to that year may differ from the invoice total.
Still, legal spending has undoubtedly skyrocketed – by more than 40 percent from the previous year.
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If the latest legal invoice is a sign of things to come, the district’s legal bills could surge past $850,000 this budget year. That would be over the $600,000 budgeted.
Legal spending rose steeply after the school board switched to a new law firm, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz, in late January.
In so doing, the board ousted Itasca-based Hodges Loizzi. The firm was likely seen as too close to former Superintendent Tammy Prentiss, who a new board majority ousted in June 2023. In May 2023, Robbins Schwartz was hired to handle Prentiss’ departure.
Last month, Terri Walker became the first board member to publicly note the dramatically higher legal bills. She said the board should look at ways to limit the spending.
Other members said they agreed with Walker’s sentiments, but they otherwise defended the spending.
For the budget year ending June 30, Elmhurst School District 205, which has more than twice District 86’s enrollment, paid $174,471 in legal bills. Other districts’ bills are also far lower than District 86’s.
When Prentiss was in charge, board members such as Jeff Waters highlighted legal spending with Hodges Loizzi, even voting against approval of the bills. He has since told Patch that he feels the latest bills are justified in serving students and taxpayers.
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Here are Hinsdale High School District 86’s legal bills, based on the date of the invoices:
June: $71,900
May: $66,927
April: $81,493
March: $134,735
February: $5,564
January: $23,397
December: $66,066
November: $18,173
October: $51,186
September: $22,930
August: $40,376
July: $79,399
TOTAL: $662,146
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