Gaggle, Yorkville
| Submitted | July 9, 2019 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Caroline Haskins
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:
According to the Gaggle website, this school district has used its company’s services (https://www.gaggle.net/success-stories/). Therefore, I hereby request the following documents:
* Any documents associated with the purchase of Gaggle services for the school district. These documents may include contracts, grant applications, payment forms, payment orders, service agreements, and terms of service.
* The total number of students in the school district that have been flagged for “signs of self-harm, depression, thoughts of suicide, substance abuse, cyberbullying, unhealthy relationships, and credible threats of violence against others.”
* The number of students that have been flagged for each respective warning sign category listed above.
* Any school district emails that discuss disciplinary action (like detention or suspension) or an administrative response (like removing the student from class, or contacting the school guidance counselor, Child Protective Services, or the police) to student behavior on Gaggle.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. It will be used in the course of reporting for Motherboard, VICE’s technology website (www.motherboard.vice.com).
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,
Caroline Haskins
From: Yorkville Community Unit School District
Attached is a response to your FOIA Request.
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[image: Yorkville CUSD 115]
*Cathy Anderson*
canderson@y115.org | Cell: 630-363-0067602 Center Parkway, Yorkville IL
60560
630-553-4382 <(630)%20553-4382> | www.y115.org
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Haskins - Yorkville CUSD 115 - Incident Details Report
From: Caroline Haskins
Thanks for this response to my request. However, any copies of purchase orders, contracts, letters of intent, etc. should also be included in the response. Could you follow up with me with those documents?
From: Yorkville Community Unit School District
We do not have a contract we just have the invoices that were attached.
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[image: Yorkville CUSD 115]
*Cathy Anderson*
canderson@y115.org | Cell: 630-363-0067602 Center Parkway, Yorkville IL
60560
630-553-4382 <(630)%20553-4382> | www.y115.org
--
From: Caroline Haskins
My mistake! Sorry.
Also, in terms of the "school district emails that discuss disciplinary action" mentioned in the original request: I understand that student information is protected under FERPA. However, typical protocol in these situations is to redact identifying information. Would it be possible to follow up with me with those redacted documents?
Thanks!
From: Yorkville Community Unit School District
*Dear Ms. Haskins:*
*Please allow this email to supplement the District’s July 15, 2019, FOIA
response letter. The District must deny your request for school district
emails that discuss disciplinary action, etc., regarding student behavior
revealed via Gaggle. Such emails are exempt pursuant to FOIA Sections
7(1)(a), 7(1)(c) and 7.5(r), as the responsive documents include
individually identifiable information concerning students and are
inherently “school student records” within the meaning of the Illinois
School Student Records Act. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(a), 7(1)(c) and 7.5(r). Many
of the underlying incidents multiple students, and publicly releasing any
details of these incidents would impermissibly result in a disclosure of
confidential student record information in violation of the Illinois School
Student Records Act. See Garlick v. Oak Park River Forest High School No.
200, 389 Ill.App.3d 306 (1st Dist. 2009) (name-blind document was still a
student record); 2018 PAC 55477 (student records laws prohibited disclosure
of student discipline referral forms, even in redacted form, where the
referral forms contained narratives that would be recognizable and
individually identifiable within the school community). In addition, any
attempt to remove all individually identifiable information from the
responsive records would be futile, as doing so would render the records
incomprehensible.*
*Moreover, the burden of your request is extreme. An initial search of the
District’s email system using “Gaggle” as a search term yielded tens of
thousands of results. The burden of locating the responsive emails and
requiring personnel with the necessary competence and discretion to redact
all individually identifiable information concerning students from these
records outweighs any public interest in the information. See 2018 PAC
54844 (public interest did not outweigh burden of locating and redacting
all individually identifiable information from hundreds of letters to
parents granting testing accommodations). If you would like to discuss your
options for reducing or narrowing the scope of your request to render it
manageable, kindly call me. Otherwise, your request is “unduly burdensome”
within the meaning of FOIA Section 3(g). See 5 ILCS 140/3(g).*
*Thank you,*
*Cathy Anderson*
--
[image: Yorkville CUSD 115]
*Cathy Anderson*
canderson@y115.org | Cell: 630-363-0067602 Center Parkway, Yorkville IL
60560
630-553-4382 <(630)%20553-4382> | www.y115.org
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