Hinsdale D-86 Video Was Posted, Then Removed: Official

Darien IL

18 April, 2022

7:59 AM

Description

DARIEN, IL – Debbie Levinthal, a Hinsdale High School District 86 board member, was promised last month that the Feb. 4 board meeting video would be posted to the website archive. That didn't happen. At Thursday's board meeting, Levinthal confirmed the district posted the video for a short time and then took it down. "The expectation was set for the board and community that the video would be posted," Levinthal said. "I believe the video should be posted." In an email last month, then-board President Terri Walker told Levinthal that the district doesn't post videos of meetings when closed sessions are the purpose. But Levinthal said that policy was not written down. The district paid $165 for a vendor to film the meeting. That was done in the absence of Keith Bockwoldt, the district's chief information officer, who usually handles the function but had the day off. At the March 24 meeting, Levinthal questioned why the video wasn't posted. Bockwoldt said it was his mistake and that he would post it. Text messages during the meeting indicated Bockwoldt wanted to follow through with his promise, but someone from the district discouraged the idea. In response to a public records request, the footage was posted to the more obscure Freedom of Information Act portal. At Thursday's meeting, no one from the administration responded to Levinthal's comments. It remains unclear why the district declines to post the video, despite calls to do so. During public comments at the Feb. 4 meeting, many criticized Superintendent Tammy Prentiss over her handling of an anti-racism consultant. Some called for her ouster. Still, the comments against Prentiss were no rougher than other meetings, in which videos have been posted. In the text messages, Bockwoldt asked a co-worker to send him the video. But the co-worker replied, "It was never intended to be recorded and therefore not released." Bockholdt told the worker that he just stated in the meeting that he thought it was released. The co-worker replied with a laughing emoji, saying, "She played you." It was unclear whether the co-worker was referring to Levinthal or some other person. Resident Yvonne Mayer obtained the text messages through a public records request. But the district only showed Bockwoldt's side of the conversation. So the co-worker's identity is unknown. During public comments Thursday, Mayer said the district was legally obligated to provide the texts from both sides of the conversation, so the public knows which employees were writing what. She said the comment about Bockwoldt being played was "talking smack."