Two Hinsdale families want to know why the district quietly dropped safety hazard designations on the road their children cross to get to school. A Patch reporter wants to see legal invoices. And a Delaware-based data firm filed at least 10 requests seeking vendor pricing records.
All told, District 181 received 20 Freedom of Information Act requests between June 17 and Aug. 5, according to the Aug. 10 board meeting agenda. The district completed 18 of them. Two remain pending.
That's a sharp jump.
In the prior reporting period, from May 11 to June 15, the district received five requests. The period before that, six. The one before that, eight.
Most requests came from out-of-state commercial firms
The bulk of the summer surge wasn't driven by Hinsdale parents. At least 12 of the 20 requests came from out-of-state commercial or organizational filers, including The Data Branch, a Delaware firm that alone filed at least 10 requests seeking software vendor pricing data for products used by the district. SmartProcure, a Florida-based firm, filed two requests for employee contact information. The Sentinel Scholars Foundation, a Georgia nonprofit, sought student directory data for marketing test prep programs.
One request stands out for local families
The most detailed community-originated filing came from Alice and Dustin Locatelli of 28 Springlake Ave. and Emily and Sean Maissami of 33 Princeton Road. Filed July 21, their 16-item request challenges the district's April 2025 decision to remove three County Line Road hazard designations from its annual safety resolution. Those designations, tied to IDOT IDs near Oak Elementary School, had been reaffirmed every year from 2018 through April 2024.
The Locatellis are parents of a rising sixth grader at Hinsdale Middle School. Their request asks what re-evaluation, traffic study, or IDOT correspondence supported the removal.
Separately, Patch reporter David Giuliani filed a July 23 request for detailed invoices from the Robbins Schwartz law firm for March and April 2024, records connected to the ongoing legal dispute involving District 86 and its former law firm.
No board action taken
The FOIA update was listed as an informational item. No board discussion or vote was requested. FOIA officer Jean Duggan handles all requests from the district's administration office at 133 E. Ogden Ave. Requests and responses are posted on the district website and available by appointment.
District 181 opens its school year for K-8 students on Thursday, Aug. 20.
Parents and residents can check d181.org and hinsdale86.org for full agendas, meeting times and public comment sign-up details.
