School District 86 Makes Excuses on Transparency

by Brian Costin Recently, as part of our Local Transparency Project, we conducted an audit in the Downers Grove area of 16 government agencies for proactive online transparency. One of those agencies was Hinsdale Township High School District 86. They scored only 49.4 out of 100 possible points. It’s disappointing that a public body whose job it is...

by Brian Costin

Recently, as part of our Local Transparency Project, we conducted an audit in the Downers Grove area of 16 government agencies for proactive online transparency. One of those agencies was Hinsdale Township High School District 86. They scored only 49.4 out of 100 possible points.

It’s disappointing that a public body whose job it is to challenge its students to pursue higher academic achievement and higher scores on standardized tests, performs so poor when it they themselves are failing by a wide margin when it comes to basic online transparency standards.

Recently, a My Suburban Life article suggested a new bill, SB 37, from State Sen. Dan Duffy, called the Local Government Transparency Act, would help address lack of transparency of local government agencies like Hinsdale Township High School District 86.

However, District 86 Board Member Micheal Kuhn said a mandate to post information on the school district’s website could be challenging.

“As a district we try to be as open as we can, but posting things, as much as we’d like to, we don’t have the funds,” he said. Kuhn claimed that the mandate (SB 37) could require hiring an extra person. “So, that’s an extra person on staff that’s not a teacher,” he said. 

Costs are the most commonly cited red herring objection we hear from local government agencies when it comes to implementing basic transparency reforms. Simply put, excessive costs are a lame excuse to oppose transparency.

Here’s why.

9 out of the 14 categories in SB 37 only require a local government agency to post a document once a year or less. Those 9 categories are; elected officials and administrators contact information, freedom of information act, annual budget, annual audit, application procedures for permits and zoning, employee compensation, taxes and fees, contracts with lobbying firms, and rules governing awarding contracts. Posting 9 documents a year is hardly a requirement that necessitates hiring of a person dedicated solely to that function. Is this too much to ask of local governments?

2 of the categories require posting on a quarterly basis. These 2 categories are posting ordinances and reporting campaign contributions by those who do business with the local government entity. Elected officials are already required to report their contributions quarterly to the State Board of Elections, and ordinances should be posted regularly just as state government posts its statutes and administrative rules online.

The final 3 categories; notice of regular & special meetings, expenditures/check register, and bids & contracts over $25,000 are documents that are already being produced and included in board packets for elected officials, it would be very easy to post these documents online so citizens have equal access to information that their elected officials already regularly get.

The cost requirements of the SB 37 bill are negligible to none. In many cases they can actually cut down on the costs of complying with Freedom of Information Act requests from the public. If the information is already online there public won’t have to make as many requests for information.

Public officials who suggest these basic transparency reforms are too costly either hasn’t sincerely examined the minimal requirements of the bill, or they are willfully trying to make it hard for citizens to access basic information about government activity.

In a democracy it is especially important that citizens have access to information so they can actively participate in government and make good choices on Election Day.

As Thomas Jefferson said, “An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.”

Elected officials should stop making excuses on why they can’t be more transparent. Citizens shouldn’t have to wait for a bill to be passed in Springfield to have access to basic information about where their tax dollars are being spent by local government agencies.