School bd. censure smothers debate

Open discussion, debate, and dialogue are all things you would expect to occur during your local school board meetings. Yet, it is this type of discourse that the Hinsdale High School District 86 board is discouraging with its recent resolution to censure board member Dianne Barrett.

Rather than welcome Barrett's expressions of caution and concern about a proposed- and now-approved plan to strategically maneuver $4 million in tax dollars between three different funds (to finance the construction of synthetic turf fields), the board condemned her remarks, calling them "divisive and destructive" and "wholly improper and unworthy of a member of the board."

While the school board may collectively choose not to follow the advice of Barrett (or any single board member, for that matter), the labeling of differing views as "divisive," "destructive," "improper," and "unworthy" stifles the open discussion, debate and dialogue necessary for the school board to fulfill its mission "to educate each student to his or her full potential as a lifelong learner."

Josh McLane

legal fellow, Citizen Advocacy Center, Elmhurst