CPS Budget Status Reports FY23

Dear Anthony:

Thank you for your interest in Chicago Public Schools. Your FOIA request has been received and is being processed. Your FOIA Center reference number for tracking purposes is: N014080-082023
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:

I am requesting a tabular export of the "Budget Status Report" for all CPS schools, as provided to principals and approved by LSCs for FY23.

An example of such a report is linked here as a PDF. Please include the same data. If it is necessary to break it up into multiple tabs or spreadsheets, that's fine.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1THS1IqKCBxlc8pA7KF1XE6rTWpHV0DpF/view?usp=sharing

Please note these budgets were not just cited and identified, but required by CPS to be presented and approved at public meetings. Consequently they are explicitly excluded from the preliminary draft exemption under 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(f): "a specific record or relevant portion of a record shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and identified by the head of the public body."

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require clarification.

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,

Anthony Moser

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.
If further time is needed to assemble and copy all documents responsive to your FOIA request, we will contact you with a time estimate and a request to extend.
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=14080

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08/21/2023

Anthony Moser
MuckRock News, DEPT MR150962 263 Huntington Ave
Boston MA 02115

Dear Anthony:

RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N014080-082023
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;
(  ) 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,

Annie Righi
FOIA Officer
Chicago Public Schools

--- Please respond above this line ---
September 5, 2023 Anthony Moser anthony.moser@gmail.com
RE: Chicago Public Schools FOIA Request N014080-082023
Dear Mr. Moser: 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:

I am requesting a tabular export of the "Budget Status Report" for all CPS schools, as provided to principals and approved by LSCs for FY23.
RESPONSE : The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FOIA Office has reviewed this request with the CPS Office of Finance and was informed that the district is unable to recreate the requested reports for prior fiscal years. The requested reports are created each year using that year’s budget data during the budgeting process and are updated each year to pull in the new fiscal year’s data. Although the CPS maintains budget data for past fiscal years, that data is maintained in a different system than the system that produces the requested reports. Accordingly, creating the specific reports referenced in this request would require the district to conduct research by gathering information from past budgets and then manually combining that information to create the requested reports, 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 (4th 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.  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 (4th Dist. 1989)]. Further, it has been determined that requesting a tally that a public body has not already prepared does not cite a public record for review as required under the FOIA and performing a review of records to prepare a tally constitutes preparing a new record, outside the scope of the FOIA. [Chi. Tribune Co. v. Dep't of Fin. & Prof'l Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427, 8 N.E.3d 11, 2014 Ill. App. LEXIS 120, 380 Ill. Dec. 80, 2014 WL 895023]. 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). 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]. Further, note that the district does not maintain a comprehensive archive of these reports. Individual schools can choose to run the requested report from the CPS budget system during the current fiscal year, but the CPS does not proactively run the report or provide it to schools. To the extent any individual school still maintains the FY23 report, conducting a search for reports maintained at a school level would require a search at each of the district’s more than 600 schools and unduly burden the CPS. This is not a denial of your request. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/3(g), we are asking that you narrow your request, in writing, to more manageable proportions.  If you do not modify or revise your request to more manageable proportions within five (5) business days, your request will be considered denied. If you do seek to narrow your request, you may wish to identify specific schools from which you seek data. 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