SY23, Kenwood Academy: Notices of 5 and 10 day student unexcused absences and notices of truancy intervention services

Dear Forest:

Thank you for your interest in Chicago Public Schools. Your FOIA request has been submitted. Your FOIA Center reference number for tracking purposes is: N015131-040724
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:

copies of notices sent by Kenwood Academy to parent or guardian of students who have 5 and 10 days of unexcused absences by school for the 2022-2023 school year. Please redact any personally identifying information for the parent, guardian, and student.

copies of notices sent "pupil's parent or guardian a letter, by certified mail, return receipt requested, notifying the parent or guardian that he or she is subjecting himself or herself to truancy intervention services", by Kenwood Academy for the 2022-2023 school year. Please redact any personally identifying information for the parent, guardian, and student.

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,

Forest Gregg

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=15131

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04/08/2024

Forest Gregg
MuckRock News, DEPT MR161696 263 Huntington Ave
Boston MA 02115

RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N015131-040724 Dear Forest: Thank you again for using the Chicago Public Schools FOIA Center. Under the Freedom of Information Act, a public body may extend the time to respond to a FOIA request by up to 5 business days for a limited number of reasons. 5 ILCS 140/3(e). We are extending the time to respond to your request by 5 business days for one or more of the following reason(s): (  ) the requested records are stored in whole or in part at other locations than the office having charge of the requested records;
( )  the request requires the collection of a substantial number of specified records;
( ) the request is couched in categorical terms and requires an extensive search for the records responsive to it;
( ) the requested records have not been located in the course of routine search and additional efforts are being made to locate them;
(x) the requested records require examination and evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence and discretion to determine if they are exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be revealed only with appropriate deletions;
(x) the request for records cannot be complied with by the public body within the time limits prescribed by 5 ILCS 140/3 (c) without unduly burdening or interfering with the operations of the public body;
( ) there is need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another public body or among two or more components of a public body having a substantial interest in the determination or in the subject matter of the request. Sincerely,
Ana Diaz Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools

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April 15, 2024 Forest Gregg RE: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FOIA Request N015131-040724 Dear Forest Gregg: This letter is in reply to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the following information: copies of notices sent by Kenwood Academy to parent or guardian of students who have 5 and 10 days of unexcused absences by school for the 2022-2023 school year. Please redact any personally identifying information for the parent, guardian, and student.
copies of notices sent "pupil's parent or guardian a letter, by certified mail, return receipt requested, notifying the parent or guardian that he or she is subjecting himself or herself to truancy intervention services", by Kenwood Academy for the 2022-2023 school year. Please redact any personally identifying information for the parent, guardian, and student. RESPONSE: The CPS FOIA Office has reviewed your request with Kenwood Academy employees and has been advised that the information you seek is not comprehensively tracked in the regular course of business. Be advised that in order to fulfill your request, physical files would have to be pulled from storage for transferred and graduated students, current student files would also have to be reviewed, (totaling over 2,300 students), and a log would have to be created. In order to provide you with information responsive to your request, Kenwood Academy staff would have to create a new record which is not required pursuant to the FOIA. Specifically, creating records and answering questions is not required according to guidance provided by 5 ILCS 140/2(c). 5 ILCS 140/1, Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28, 32 (4 th Dist. 1989), and Yeager v. Drug Enforcement Admin., 678 F. 2d 315, 321 (D.C. Cir. 1982). Additionally, under Illinois FOIA law, a request to inspect or copy a record must reasonably identify a public record, as opposed to general data, information or statistics to be gleaned from documents which have not otherwise been created by a public body. Accordingly, 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. Further, section 1 of 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 the Illinois FOIA, the District is not required to conduct research to answer your questions or prepare researched records on your behalf in response to your request. 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. Thank you for your request. Sincerely, Ana Diaz Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools