The board of Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central High Schools conducted a special meeting on April 3, 2019, which reversed the anticipated cuts to the schools’ athletic programs for the 2019 – 2020 school year. As of April, the voters approved a $140 million referendum to ensure all of the needs be taken care of.

Hinsdale decided to not cut the athletic programs because of the student interest and involvement. This caused the need for cuts elsewhere. The board plans to release a new activities report in May, which will serve as the basis for what can and cannot be cut for the 2019-2020 school year.

Hinsdale Central  junior Braden Contreras gave a sigh of relief upon hearing the news. He is a wide receiver on the Hinsdale Central’s football team, and said, “ It’s truly the best feeling after all this time worrying about if I can play football at my high school. I saw a whole community come together to help save my senior year and the years after us. I just feel grateful for the adults leading the campaign and everyone who voted. I can’t wait to get started and make Hinsdale proud.”

The previous $166 million referendum was not passed by voters, which caused a need to find money elsewhere. The school board planned on cutting their athletic and other school programs. The cutting of the athletic programs alone would bring in $789,047 for the district. However, this decision was recently reversed by an unanimous vote, causing a reinstatement of all the athletic programs that were anticipated to be shut down.