St. Charles school district hires a new legal team

The St. Charles school board is about to get some free legal advice.

Six months' worth, actually.

The board this week unanimously approved hiring an Arlington Heights-based legal firm to provide counsel at its meetings, and the firm has agreed to do much of the work at no cost.

Under the agreement, Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick and Kohn will advise the board for free during open- and closed-session meetings for six months, Superintendent Donald Schlomann said Tuesday.

Outside the boardroom, attorneys will work at an average hourly rate of $170, just less than the district previously paid Chicago-based Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins, according to Schlomann.

The superintendent said he expects the new team, which includes partner Cindy DeCola of St. Charles, to help board members better understand open meetings laws.

The board previously did not have legal representation at every meeting.

"Hopefully, we will be able to clear up some questions the community has raised in the past about the process," Schlomann said.

Until this month, the board typically met for two to four hours at least twice a month. But a recent board restructuring means members will deliberate mostly in committee meetings, with full board sessions once a month.

A four-hour meeting would cost $680 in legal fees under the new firm's average rate.

Schlomann said the board would decide in six months whether it wants to pay for lawyers to continue attending every meeting.

The newly hired firm specializes in advising local governments and private education institutions, according to its Web site.