South High Does Not Get Short End Of Stick: D-86 Official

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale High School District 86's board president last week rejected a critic's arguments that Hinsdale South was getting the short end of the stick. However, one board member said she did not want to diminish what the critic was seeing.

Burr Ridge resident Alan C. Jones, a retired West Chicago High School District 94 principal, submitted comments to the board that resembled his recent criticism of the district on the Nextdoor social media website.

"For the last three years at least, various community members have provided documentation of a district engaged in a purposeful effort to resegregate our two high schools and in this process systematically strip South of its academic legitimacy," Jones said.

Hinsdale South has a greater percentage of low-income students — 27 percent to Hinsdale Central's 6 percent. Blacks and Hispanics make up 33 percent of South and 9 percent of Central, according to the Illinois Report Card website.

Critics such as Jones suggest changing the attendance boundaries to provide more equal opportunities. For the last quarter century, South's enrollment has fallen dramatically as a share of the district's total.

At Thursday's board meeting, board President Kevin Camden said accusations of resegregation miss the fact that the schools are trying to provide curriculum equity. Late last year, the district approved a new science curriculum that officials said would help achieve that goal.

"It's going to be a slow and deliberate process to get the district to where it needs to be," Camden said.

Board member Keith Chval said he wondered what planet Jones had been living on. He said he was impressed with the accomplishments at both Central and South.

"To suggest there is not a first-rate education (at South) is terribly misplaced," he said. "These kinds of comments serve no good and do nothing but denigrate the great things that are happening there and tear down the very things they claim to care about."

Camden said he could not be objective about the issue, noting he had three children at South.

"If I thought for a second that my students, my kids, were being deprived of anything at South, I would do what any parent would do and discuss it with administration," Camden said. "I don't see it, not because I'm blind to it. My kids get every opportunity they want."

He added, "To blatantly say it's exclusionary or some type of segregation, I'm sorry, I just don't see it."

Board member Tamakia "TJ" Edwards, whose son graduated from South, took a different approach.

"I don't want to diminish someone's feelings and their perception of what they're experiencing. My experiences are different from that of Kevin because it wasn't that for me and my family, and that's my reality, so I own that," she said.

Edwards, who was appointed to the board in August, said she wanted to recognize inequities that exist. At the same time, she said drawing new attendance boundaries without proper infrastructure, support, access and preparedness would be a disservice to students.

Camden acknowledged Edwards' points.

"Everyone has their own truth in their experience with the district. I cannot minimize what mine has been. I also understand I am a white male and things may be different for me than a lot of other folks," he said to Edwards, who is African American. "I'm not minimizing what Mr. Jones said. All I'm suggesting is I don't see it. Again, I may not be in the group of folks that is disproportionately affected."

Here are other stories about differences between Central and South high schools:

Unequal Opportunities At South And Central: Critic

Hinsdale South Getting Raw End Of Deal?

'False Narrative' About Hinsdale South: Principal Speaks Out

District 86 Treats South And Central Equally: Lawyers

Central And South 'Very Similar': Lawyer

Is District 86 Countering 'Systemic Racism'?