Candice Jackson, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, recently provided a “new internal guidance” memorandum to staff that significantly changes the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) protocols for investigating civil rights […]
Category: K-12 Education
IL Supreme Court Rules IHSA Not Subject to FOIA
June 15, 2017
The FOIA litigation saga continues as the Illinois Supreme Court in Better Government Association v. IHSA ruled in favor of the athletic association and High School District 230, holding that the records requested are not public records subject to the Freedom […]
Transgender High School Student Prevails in Bathroom Access Case Before Federal Appellate Court Over Illinois
June 8, 2017
In an opinion issued last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided in favor of a transgender student who challenged his high school’s decision to limit his access to boys’ communal bathrooms. Ash Whitaker, a high school senior, brought […]
Recently the Second District Appellate Court issued an opinion holding that the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applied to certain records in the possession of the College of DuPage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity separate from the College of DuPage. […]
The Public Access Counselor recently issued a non-binding opinion holding that public bodies have the discretion to decide whether to waive or reduce copying fees associated with the production of documents responsive to FOIA requests. The request, in this case, sought documents […]
Government bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act (OMA) sometimes struggle to strike the right balance between too much and too little detail contained in their published Board meeting agendas. A recent advisory opinion from the Public Access Counselor (PAC) […]
Attorney General’s Office Finds School Board Held Improper Discussion in Closed Session
May 15, 2017
The Attorney General’s Office recently issued a non-binding opinion concluding that a board of education improperly discussed matters in closed session that were not within the scope of the exceptions on which the board relied when entering closed session. This opinion […]
The Expanding Definition of “News Media” Under FOIA
May 15, 2017
In the age of Twitter and blogging, it is not always easy to tell who qualifies as a journalist or member of the media. But according to a recent advisory opinion from the Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney […]