Church exemplifies good neighbor policy
What a pleasure it is to have a good neighbor with good taste. The Grace Episcopal Church of Hinsdale has demonstrated to our neighborhood and our community that development can be done in a cooperative, above board manner and yield a fantastic result for everyone.

We applaud their new addition, their new rectory and the beautiful landscaping that makes this project a credit to their church, their membership and the greater community. Good planning, good communication, good execution and good leadership have resulted in a project that everyone can be proud of. Congratulations to The Rev. George Muir and his congregation for a job well done.

John & Penny Bohnen, Hinsdale

School community will miss retiring teacher
kjs. gcm Mrs. Marcia Pietro is retiring from Hinsdale Middle School after teaching foods and clothing to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders since 1990.

Anyone who has ever had Mrs. Pietro as a teacher, taught with her or even just known her a little bit knows that she is one of the most caring and thoughtful people they will ever meet. She is always smiling and greets all of the students in the morning in a cheerful way. She is always first to help anyone with anything they may need.

Her extremely generous and kind personality is an example of how everyone should act. Personally, I am very close to Mrs. Pietro. She is like my second mom. She always helps me with my sewing and with anything else I may need.

I can talk to her about anything and she always listens and offers great advice. Whenever I am having a bad day, just being around her with her always-positive attitude always cheers me up. Not only is Mrs. Pietro extremely kind and thoughtful, she is also a fantastic teacher. She has taught all of her students so much, whether it be how to frost a cake or how to make a beautiful quilt.

Mrs. Pietro has taught me so much about sewing that she even inspired me to start my baby quilt business. I will greatly miss Mrs. Pietro, and I know the entirety of Hinsdale Middle School will too.

Jill Hardies, eighth-grader at Hinsdale Middle School

Censure of board member stifles open, honest debate
Open discussion, debate and dialogue are all things you would expect to occur during your local school board meetings. Yet, it is this type of discourse that the Hinsdale Township High School District 86 School Board is discouraging with its recent resolution to censure against board member Dianne Barrett.

Rather than welcome Barrett’s expressions of caution and concern about a proposed — and now approved — plan to strategically maneuver $4 million in tax dollars between three different funds (to finance the construction of synthetic turf fields), the board condemned her remarks in a resolution to censure, calling them “divisive and destructive.”

While the Hinsdale School Board may collectively choose not to follow the advice of Barrett, the labeling of differing views as “divisive,” “destructive,” “improper” and “unworthy” stifles the open discussion, debate and dialogue necessary for the School Board to fulfill its mission “to educate each student to his or her full potential as a lifelong learner.”

Josh McLane, legal fellow, Citizen Advocacy Center, Elmhurst

Censure of Dianne Barrett by School Board proper
In your last issue, you criticized the District 86 Board of Education for censuring Dianne Barrett for her continued egregious conduct. Specifically, she stated that the board's transfer of working cash bond money to the education fund and into a capital projects fund created therein was “money laundering.” As you know, money laundering is a crime and is defined as “the practice of disguising illegally obtained funds so that they seem legal.”

In fact, Mrs. Barrett knows that transferring money from the working cash funds to the education fund and then to the capital projects fund is actually legal. She also knows or should know that the bond proceeds were obtained legally. Despite her comments and your paper’s assertions to the contrary, the transfer complies with the Illinois State Board of Education’s rules. The process also is in accordance with the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision. The district's law firm provided this information to the entire board at an open meeting. Mrs. Barrett simply chose to ignore the advice, the case law and state law. Instead, she chose to attack her fellow board members.

The board was not trying to stifle Mrs. Barrett's right to speak, which has been a right of each board member and the public. However, none of us have the unfettered right to make defamatory statements about other board members, employees or the superintendent. Too often the community, faculty and students have misinterpreted some of Mrs. Barrett's comments in the past to represent the opinions and values of the rest of the board when in fact Mrs. Barrett was never speaking for the board but rather only for herself.

If Mrs. Barrett or her followers wish to defame the names of people voluntarily serving on boards, they should prepare themselves for the inevitable defense of a defamation lawsuit as well as board actions such as the resolution to censure when her comments are clearly wrong or defamatory.

Dennis Brennan, board president, Hinsdale Township High School District 86

School Board shouldn’t move funds around
How can District 86 High School District continue to move money from the working cash fund to the capital projects fund thought the education fund after a recent Appellate Court ruling stated money cannot be used in this manner? I’m beginning to think our school district likes going to court based off the number of outstanding tax objections pending.

I find this behavior inexcusable and audacious at best. And even worse, your censure of fellow board member Dianne Barrett has the taste of controlling the message, which I find this extremely damaging to the district's image.

Mark Carney, Darien