Application for Transportation Services for February, 2024

Dear Miriam:

Thank you for your interest in Chicago Public Schools. Your FOIA request has been submitted. Your FOIA Center reference number for tracking purposes is: N014946-030324
You have requested the following records: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Provide records sufficient to show from February 01, 2024 to February 29, 2024:

1. The number of Application for Transportation Service requests, aka "White Forms", submitted;
2. The number of students who have accepted transportation reimbursement stipends;
3. Special Education Students Missing Active Transportation Request - anonymized aggregated students including type of transportation.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Miriam Bhimani

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) responds to all public records requests in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.
Due to the volume and complexity of requests received in the normal course of business, CPS is extending the time for its initial response to your request by an additional 5 business days (to 10 business days total beginning on the first business day following receipt of the request) pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/3(e)(v) which allows for the examination and evaluation of the requested records by personnel to determine if they are exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of Illinois FOIA or should be revealed only with appropriate deletions.
Upon the completion of a response, CPS will provide the first 50 pages to you at no charge.  If a response is more than 50 pages, a fee of 15¢ per page will be charged for each additional page. Copies of video recordings have a fee of $48. All applicable fees must be paid prior to the copying. CPS will inform you of any fees due if your paper response exceeds 50 pages. You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you’ll receive an email when your request has been completed. Thank you for using the CPS FOIA Center.

Track the issue status and respond at: https://cps.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP//_rs/RequestEdit.aspx?rid=14946

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03/18/2024 Miriam Bhimani
Dear Miriam: RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N014946-030324 Thank you again for using the Chicago Public Schools FOIA Center. We are writing regarding your Freedom of Information Act Request for the following records: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Provide records sufficient to show from February 01, 2024 to February 29, 2024:

1. The number of Application for Transportation Service requests, aka "White Forms", submitted;
2. The number of students who have accepted transportation reimbursement stipends;
3. Special Education Students Missing Active Transportation Request - anonymized aggregated students including type of transportation.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Miriam Bhimani

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FOIA Office is seeking ten additional business days to respond to this request. If agreed, we will respond by end of business day Monday, April 1, 2024. Please note that the CPS FOIA Office is still gathering responsive documents and we are working diligently on fulfilling your request. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you, Annie Righi Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools

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04/01/2024 Miriam Bhimani
Dear Miriam: RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N014946-030324 Thank you again for using the Chicago Public Schools FOIA Center. We are writing regarding your Freedom of Information Act Request for the following records: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Provide records sufficient to show from February 01, 2024 to February 29, 2024:

1. The number of Application for Transportation Service requests, aka "White Forms", submitted;
2. The number of students who have accepted transportation reimbursement stipends;
3. Special Education Students Missing Active Transportation Request - anonymized aggregated students including type of transportation.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Miriam Bhimani

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FOIA Office is seeking ten additional business days to respond to this request. If agreed, we will respond by end of business day Monday, April 15, 2024. Please note that the CPS FOIA Office is still gathering responsive documents and we are working diligently on fulfilling your request. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you, Annie Righi Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools

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April 15, 2024 Miriam Bhimani requests@muckrock.com RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N014946-030324
Dear Ms. Bhimani: This letter is in reply to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the following information: Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Provide records sufficient to show from February 01, 2024 to February 29, 2024:
1. The number of Application for Transportation Service requests, aka "White Forms", submitted;
2. The number of students who have accepted transportation reimbursement stipends;
3. Special Education Students Missing Active Transportation Request - anonymized aggregated students including type of transportation. RESPONSE : Documents responsive to parts one (1) and two (2) of your request are available to download via the CPS FOIA Center at www.cps.edu/FOIARequests . Please log in with your username and password to access the records. Part three (3) of this request fails to cite an existing record for review. Note that the district does not maintain data reflecting counts of “Special Education Students Missing Active Transporting Request” in the same record or database as data reflecting “type of transportation”. In order to respond to that portion of the request, the district would be required to pull data from multiple sources maintained by different departments, conduct original research and analysis to join to the two datasets, and then manually combine them in order to create a new record, not maintained in the normal course of business and outside the scope of the FOIA. The requirements of the FOIA apply to public records “having been prepared by or for, or having been or being used by, received by, or in the possession of, or under the control of any public body.” [5 ILCS 140/2(c)]. Accordingly, and as determined in Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28,32 (4 th Dist. 1989), the FOIA applies to the provision of existing public records; a public body is not required to answer questions or generate new records in response to a FOIA request.  Additionally, a FOIA request must reasonably identify a record(s) for review and not “a general request for data, information and statistics to be gleaned generally from documents which have not been created and which the agency does not generally create or require.” [ Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28,32 (4 th Dist. 1989)]. Additionally, “A requester is entitled only to records that an agency has in fact chosen to create and retain.” [ Yeager v. Drug Enforcement Admin., 678 F. 2d 315, 321 (D.C. Cir. 1922)] Additionally, Section 1 of the FOIA states in part: "This Act is not intended to create an obligation on the part of any public body to maintain or prepare any public record which was not maintained or prepared by such public body at the time when this Act becomes effective, except as otherwise required by applicable local, State or federal law." In accordance with Section 1 of Illinois FOIA, the District is not required to conduct research to answer questions in response to a specific query [5 ILCS 140/1]. Personally identifiable student record information is exempt from release in accordance with the Illinois School Student Records Act 105 ILCS 10/1 et seq. and the corresponding Section 7.5(r) FOIA exemption (5 ILCS 140/7.5(r)). To the extent you consider this a denial, pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/9.5(a) you may file a Request for Review with the Public Access Counselor (PAC) at: Public Access Counselor; Office of the Attorney General; 500 South 2nd Street; Springfield, IL 62706.  You also have the right to seek judicial review of your denial by filing a lawsuit in the State circuit court; 5 ILCS 140/11. If you have any questions, please contact our office at (773) 553-3500. Thank you for your request. Sincerely, Annie Righi Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools