DARIEN, IL – A Hinsdale High School District 86 board member on Thursday responded to allegations from a former colleague's lawyer, who accused her of intimidation during a closed board meeting.Board member Asma Akhras was referring to former member Debbie Levinthal. This week, Levinthal's husband, Dan Levinthal, publicly released an August 2024 letter from the attorney to the district.Patch asked...
DARIEN, IL – A Hinsdale High School District 86 board member on Thursday responded to allegations from a former colleague's lawyer, who accused her of intimidation during a closed board meeting.
Board member Asma Akhras was referring to former member Debbie Levinthal. This week, Levinthal's husband, Dan Levinthal, publicly released an August 2024 letter from the attorney to the district.
Patch asked Akhras for a response earlier this week before publishing a story. She did not answer, but spoke about the story at Thursday's board meeting, emailing a copy of her speech to Patch afterward.
In the August letter, attorney Deborah Weiss said board President Catherine Greenspon reported to the board behind closed doors that then-Superintendent Tammy Prentiss revealed private student information about the Levinthals' child to her.
The lawyer said the board declined to investigate the alleged breach of privacy, but used the allegation as part of the case against Prentiss, who was later ousted.
Weiss said the board's law firm directed employees to conduct a dragnet of school files for information about Levinthal and her family. This, the lawyer said, violated privacy laws.
In her letter, Weiss said Akhras joined in the harassment and attacks on member Levinthal during a Sept. 18, 2023, board meeting. Akhras asserted Levinthal needed to be "disciplined" and subjected to "professional punishment," Weiss said.
Levinthal resigned after the meeting, expressing her frustration with the board's leadership.
In her statement Thursday, Akhras said that after the Patch story appeared, she went to the district's central office to review the closed session recording. She said she listened to all of it and took five pages of notes. But she said she was not allowed to share what she heard because of "legal constraints."
At the same time, Akhras said she could share that "bridge-building/support was beyond extended to former member Levinthal."
Akhras, who was elected in 2023, said her commitment will always be to students.
"The thought of not protecting student privacy and the accusations being thrown is beyond incomprehensible for someone who is going on 30 years in the field of education, who has held to my highest potential of integrity to this role, and commitment to our D86 students," Akhras said.