Dupage Policy Journal

Kay Gallo, Katherine Greenspon and Asma Akhras have been elected to the Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education. 

According to the official results, Gallo received 25.37% of the vote, Greenspon received 25.04% and Akhras 19.70%. The Hinsdalean reported that it was one of the only competitive races on the ballot this year. 

Gallo previously said respect from current board members to parents in the district has been minimal. “The District 86 administration and outgoing board members have shown intolerance, disdain and indifference toward individuals who have questioned these changes and requested data to support them," she said. 

Gallo served on the District 86 board for two terms from 2009 to 2017. She lobbied for the removal of Superintendent Tammy Prentiss and started a petition for such a purpose on change.org. 

“Tammy Prentiss intentionally misled School District 86 stakeholders, the board of education and the media during the January 13, 2022, board meeting when she read aloud a divisive and defamatory letter purportedly received from Valda Valbrun, an outside Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) consultant who had sent an email the previous day withdrawing her proposal to conduct DE&I training for the district,” the petition reads.

Greenspon is a member of the board of directors at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and serves as chief change agent at the education group Project Infinite Green. “Project Infinite Green encourages STEM education by taking school children on a journey of US energy sources. We are a nonprofit organization created to educate children about sustainable, financially feasible energy sources and processes,” according to Greenspon’s LinkedIn page.

Greenspon previously said the current board is defined by a lack of transparency. "Thoughtful perspectives from experienced D86 teachers and the community are largely ignored," she said. "The sense of frustration and division has become palpable in our once tightly-knit community. I am committed to invest my time, bring stakeholders together, build consensus and make hard decisions.”

Akhras is a Darien resident who lives in the Hinsdale South attendance zone. She holds a master’s degree in education in curriculum and instruction and works as implementation leader of the curriculum at Great Minds, through which she works with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

D86 includes 3,894 students and employs around 300 teachers in three schools.

According to a press release, Wirepoints created a set of new fact sheets highlighting individual school district statistics by delving into data from the Illinois State Board of Education and the U.S. Census. These fact sheets present the outcomes of the 20 largest school districts in the state and a few others.

According to the data, in the Hinsdale Township High School District 86, 60% of students read at their grade level, while 61% perform math at their grade level. Additionally, the percentage of students who can read at grade level by ethnicity is as follows: 83% of Asian students, 61% of white students, 42% of Hispanic students and 10% of Black students. 

The graduation rate is 91%, and 98.8% of teachers are highly rated. Over the past decade, property tax revenues in Illinois have increased by 45%, despite a 13% decline in student enrollment. Spending per student has surged from $16,186 in 2010 to $24,675 in 2021.

The Hinsdale Township High School District 86 spent over $168 million in 2021. The board and superintendent determine and control expenditures for the school system.