School Assignment Requests in Quarter 1, 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: N015099-040124
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:

Anonymized data of all school assignment requests made on behalf of
CPS students with IEPs requiring placement from
January 01, 2024 to March 31, 2024. These records
should include a unique non-identifiable code for the student, the
date their IEP was finalized, the date the school assignment request
was made, the date the school assignment letter was issued, and the
date the student enrolled.

Because this request is in the public interest for Illinois nonprofit
The FOIA Bakery’s work to advocate for public education, please waive
any fees in accordance with 5 ILCS § 140/6(c). Feel free to contact me
with any questions, or if clarification is needed.

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=15099

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04/01/2024

Miriam Bhimani
MuckRock News, DEPT MR161545 263 Huntington Ave
Boston MA 02115

RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N015099-040124 Dear Miriam: 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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04/15/2024 Miriam Bhimani
Dear Miriam: RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N015099-040124 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:

Anonymized data of all school assignment requests made on behalf of
CPS students with IEPs requiring placement from
January 01, 2024 to March 31, 2024. These records
should include a unique non-identifiable code for the student, the
date their IEP was finalized, the date the school assignment request
was made, the date the school assignment letter was issued, and the
date the student enrolled.

Because this request is in the public interest for Illinois nonprofit
The FOIA Bakery’s work to advocate for public education, please waive
any fees in accordance with 5 ILCS § 140/6(c). Feel free to contact me
with any questions, or if clarification is needed.

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/ If agreed, we will respond by end of business day 4/29/24. 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, Ana Diaz Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools

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April 29, 2024 Miriam Bhimani Re: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FOIA Request N015099-040124 Dear Miriam Bhimani: This letter is in reply to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the following information: Anonymized data of all school assignment requests made on behalf of CPS students with IEPs requiring placement from January 01, 2024 to March 31, 2024. These records should include a unique non-identifiable code for the student, the date their IEP was finalized, the date the school assignment request was made, the date the school assignment letter was issued, and the date the student enrolled. RESPONSE: Data reflecting some, but not all, of the information sought in this part of your request is 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. The FOIA office has been advised by the CPS Office of Diverse Learners Supports and Services that it does not maintain any single system or database that comprehensively tracks each datapoint listed in this portion of your request. The raw data being provided reflects the date of assignment requests made and the date of assignments being finalized. In order to respond to this portion of your request fully, the District would be required to first analyze individual IEP and assignment records and then cross-reference them with enrollment records in order to create a brand-new dataset. That new dataset would then have to be anonymized. Please note that the Illinois Freedom of Information Act applies only to existing records that a public body has chosen to create and maintain in the normal course of its business. It does not require the District to prepare or create records that did not exist at the time the request was made. [5 ILCS 140/1] Accordingly, the District has no further records responsive to your request. To the extent you consider this a denial of your request, 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