Next Up For Divided Hinsdale D-86 Board

DARIEN, IL — A divided school board. Meetings late into the night. Curriculum changes on the chopping block.

That describes the situation with the Hinsdale High School District 86 board.

Last Wednesday, the board held a more than five-hour-long meeting, which extended past 11 p.m.

More than two-thirds of the meeting was devoted to consideration of the board's decision last October to go with an "integrated" math curriculum. Since then, a new board majority questioning curriculum changes took office.

The district's administration sensed the new program was in trouble, so it presented a last-minute compromise. It failed. The board voted 4-3 to reverse the October decision entirely.

After that vote, administrators proceeded with giving a presentation on changes to the science curriculum. In late 2019, the board decided to begin the process of reversing the traditional science sequence of classes. Under the changes, students would take physics as freshmen, chemistry as sophomores and biology as juniors, with each class including earth science concepts.

At Wednesday's meeting, administrators and teachers made the case for the new sequence. Julie May, Hinsdale Central's science department chairwoman, was among them.

"Chemistry does utilize physics concepts. Biology does use chemistry concepts. The reverse is not true," May told the board.

The board was also told later that biology involves ethical issues that juniors are more prepared to discuss than freshmen.

Assistant Superintendent Chris Covino said the changing of the sequence is moving along.

"The train is on the tracks. We know what the cars are. We know which people are in the cars. Full steam ahead," he said.

It will be up to the board to determine whether the new sequence of classes will continue to move down the tracks.

At the meeting, the new board majority listened to the presentation, but did not give its opinions. Perhaps the board will vote on the fate of the sequence of classes at its meeting next week. No one gave a timeline.

Hinsdale South has followed the physics-chemistry-biology sequence for a number of years. Officials said the science curriculum changes were prompted by a 2018 civil rights complaint that the district had failed to align course offerings between South and Central.