Dupage Policy Journal

Hinsdale Township High School District 86’s Patrice Payne will be leaving the district effective June 9. 

Payne’s departure was noted in a personnel report for the school board’s April 13 meeting. According to Patch, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss created the position in 2021. 

"This position was created, in part, to support the work and goals of our equity statement, which include designing and implementing a culturally responsive curriculum, helping our faculty develop culturally responsive teaching practices, and cultivating the social and emotional skills in our students so that they can grow into engaged global citizens," Prentiss said.

Payne was appointed Director of Instructional Equity at the school in 2021 at a starting salary of $115,000 annually. The move comes as the school board has seen an upheaval with several candidates opposed to Prentiss being seated. 

She delivered a controversial report to the school system in 2022 in which she called education “Eurocentric” and said students should be given a sense of “belongingness.” She also noted the disparities in Black and Latino students not taking higher-level coursework. 

"Students do not achieve success if they are not receiving grade-level content," Payne said, Patch reported.

Andrew Catton, a parent and former school board candidate, has been an outspoken critic of the school system regarding its efforts to socially engineer race issues in the classroom. 

"To my dismay, I was appalled to see that this radical ideology has not only made simple inroads, but rather has been made a part of the district's 5-year strategic plan," Catton said. "Forcing all decision-making through a racial or gender identity politics prism while bashing American history along the way will be catastrophic for the school system. If you cannot see how this can be harmful to the student body, student teacher interaction and even parent and student relationships, what business do any of you have being on the board? It's borderline criminal.”