LSC Review Gets Bulldog in Conflict With Schools (long)

March 1, 2012

By Patrick Boylan

As part of its effort to publicize school activities, The Welles Park Bulldog has been inspecting neighborhood school compliance with Chicago Public School Local School Council election policy.

That interest has sparked a confrontation between The Bulldog and McPherson school staff. This evening the Chicago Headline Club, the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, shared our story with members of the society as ‘Why We Fight For Access.’

I wrote that narrative.

Our narrative is difficult to share. We are not accustomed to being the subject of a story that we are writing. We are struggling to balance our very obvious interest in the story with the needs to be fair with the viewpoints of the people we are in conflict with.

And this is a plural ‘we.’ This is not a singluar ‘I.’ Throughout the process I involved others to advise me: lawyers, legislators, LSC members, school principals and journalists. Below I give a shout out to many of these people.

The Bulldog has asked others to enter this space and discuss this incident from their view. Below, I have written my views of why The Bulldog became involved in this situation and how it developed into test of your right to know.

We could have been charged with trespass at McPherson. That is a risk we accept to defend your right to know.

THE YEAR LONG EFFORT

In fall 2011, The Bulldog decided to focus on Ravenswood area public schools as an editorial issue. The Dog already had established itself as a prep sports site, with coverage of five local high school teams in football and mens and womens hoops.

The new effort would build on this past success, leveraging the good will created by the preps coverage to challenge the management of schools.

Initially, as part of this effort, Patrick Boylan would attempt to attend at least one each of 16 Local School Councils and The Dog would build a data base of school LSC minutes.

Once that was accomplished, The Dog would extend, in the spring, to cover each LSC election in the 16 schools.

The Dog’s decision caused an immediate reaction at Trumbull School.

At an LSC meeting at Trumbull prior to Labor Day, the president of the Trumbull LSC ordered Boylan to stop taking photos. The husband of the LSC President backed this up with a twenty yard rush on Boylan, stopping within inches of him.

In general, however, the presence of The Dog was welcomed.

The visit of The Dog to an LSC was generally a moment to celebrate work by volunteers, many of them on the LSC. At Hamilton we noted the effort that will culminate years from now with a new athletic field. At Budlong we noted thousands being used to create a computer lab. At Amundsen we noted the collaboration between the school and the American Theater Company to raise student appreciation of literature and the arts.

EARLY CONFLICT WITH CPS FOIA OFFICE

In a Freedom of Information Act request delivered in September to CPS The Dog requested the schedule of LSC meetings and the names and contact information for LSC members for the 16 schools.

This information should be collected at each school at a meeting in July. It is a matter of public record.

The FOIA was a product of collaboration between The Dog and the Chicago Kent School of Law; Center for Open Government.

This collaboration represented a long-standing relationship between The Dog and the Center. The new director, Natalie Potts, worked with me to craft our FOIA message and then represented The Dog in its communications with CPS.

By mid-November CPS had still not produced a reply to the FOIA. There was a fiery exchange between me and the FOIA officer, Cassandra Daniels, regarding the delay. This led to CPS putting the heat on the 16 schools to provide the material to Daniels.

NEW STRATEGY CRAFTED

Boylan met with Ill. Rep. Ann Williams to discuss the situation. Williams read an internal document of CPS that Boylan had found and reviewed the state Open Meetings Act. She recommended that Boylan make visits to the schools pointing to CPS policies that seemed to back unannounced visits in the case of the LSC elections.

In addition, she pointed out that OMA was probably more useful to The Dog in its attempts to gain access to LSC records than the FOIA.

The visits, which started in December, were meant to test the schools adherence to the OMA, not FOIA. Under that law public bodies, such as the school LSCs, are required to maintain certain records and make them available to the public for inspection.

Schools in our society are too often the scene of tragedy. As a result, for the most part, public access is restricted and the public must adhere to security procedures when on school property.

As part of the strategy The Dog decided that if the records were not available it would commit an act of civil disobedience. Simply, Boylan would refuse to leave the building till the records were produced (after I had tried several times to schedule a meeting to inspect the records).

This strategy entails risk.

NEW TRAINING- OCCUPY THE SCHOOLS

Boylan and Potts decided to write the schools providing them notice of the purpose of the visits and the legal foundation for the request.

In preparation for the visits Boylan contacted the National Lawyers Guild for advice. If the schools refused to deliver the LSC minutes, Boylan would not leave the building, creating a case of civil disobedience. Once the schools ordered Boylan to leave he could be charged with trespass.

Boylan wanted to avoid a felony charge if he was charged.

The NLG directed Boylan to a video that taught him how to make the best arrest he could, if it came to that. And the NLG coordinated lightly as Boylan began his rounds.

In addition, Boylan contacted a representative of the Society for Professional Journalism/ Chicago Headline Club at the Better Government Association to give them a heads up on his activities.

After the letters went out Boylan began following up with calls to create a scheduled meeting. It was felt that for ordinary OMA activities that scheduling a meeting would most closely resemble the experience of parents attempting to examine the LSC records.

It was at about this time that many of them began to fulfill the FOIA office demands. The FOIA office had expanded the original request to demand all records of LSC since July 1.

As a result the schools were confused, many saying they had answered Boylan’s FOIA.

The combination of Boylan’s OMA visits and the FOIA demands of Daniels combined to create a database of more than 200 documents.

The Dog published the documents online in January through a service called Document Cloud. Document Cloud itself is a journalism effort funded by the Knight Foundation. The documents are available to the public on the database and are also searchable.

LSC ELECTION STRATEGY

During school winter break Potts and Boylan concluded they would need to go back and make another test of the schools. Although The Dog was able to post LSC information for each of the schools, and although the schools were beginning to invite The Dog to LSC meetings, it wasn’t clear the schools understood all the needs placed on them by the OMA.

Potts prepared another letter to the schools in January. She noted some of the shortcomings of the December LSC minutes drive and what was the minimum required of the schools to meet the OMA.

In addition, the acceptance of candidate applications by the schools created a new opportunity for The Dog to return and test the OMA understanding of the schools.

We believe that if a school does the following activities it will be in full compliance with both the language and the spirit of the OMA and the Illinois School Code:

A bulletin board should contain the roster of LSC officers, the minutes of the most recent meeting and the agenda for any upcoming meetings
If the school maintains a web site, it should contain the minutes to past meetings (or it should contain a link to the new site created by The Dog on DocumentCloud)
In the main office of the school there should be a binder containing the minutes of the LSC and other material such as the roster of LSC members. The binder should be available to the public for inspection upon request. Certain limits may be placed on the use of the binder by the school (for example, do not remove the binder from the office, do not remove materials from the binder).

With regard to the elections for LSC, The Dog holds that the following is required by CPS policy:

An approved poster shall be placed at the main entrance to the school announcing the LSC elections
A map of the school district must be posted on a bulletin board
The bulletin board should contain optional statement of candidacy from the candidates
A form listing each candidate posted on the bulletin board
A policy stating the method for inspection of nominating papers and the right of parents to inspect these papers
In the main office of the school, and separate from the LSC minutes, there should be a binder containing copies of the nomination papers presented to the school. Proof of identity would be kept in a separate binder due to the sensitive material inside. The use of the identity binder could be limited (e.g., you may only examine the binder while in the office and standing at the counter, you must sign-in to examine the binder).

The Dog relied on language in the 2012 Local School Council Election Guide to guide it:

DELIVER NOMINATION PAPERS

The Principal will photocopy all nomination papers. The photocopies of these documents and the photocopies of the forms of identification submitted by candidates will be maintained in a file by the Principal. This file should be accessible for review by the public upon request with the exception of the Telephone Number Disclosure…

It was felt this next round of records inspections would not use scheduled meetings. First of all, the internal policies of the CPS seemed to indicate that the records should always be available for inspection. And second, it was felt that the experience of parents who were planning to run for LSC or contest the eligibility of an LSC candidate would be reflected better with a surprise visit.

Typically, a bulletin board within the school and on the first floor, is considered acceptable for posting most materials. The poster announcing the election is generally placed near the main entrance, often in the door or window facing out.

McPHERSON DEMANDS SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT

On Tuesday, February 21 the work started. Here is a brief record of the day.

Waters
- Poster present
- No map posted
- Form 4-10 (list of candidates) posted
- No Forms 2-12 on bulletin board (This was corrected while we were in the building)
- No procedure posted regarding examination of nominating records
- Access granted to nomination records
Budlong
- No poster seen
- No map posted
- No candidates filed
- No procedure posted regarding examination of nominating records
Chappell
- Poster present
- No map posted
- No candidates filed
- No procedure posted regarding examination of nominating records
Trumbull
- Poster present
- No map posted
- Form 4-10 (list of candidates) posted
- Forms 2-12 prominently displayed
- Access granted to records
- No procedure posted regarding examination of nominating records
Amundsen High
- Poster present
- No map posted
- No candidates filed
- No procedure posted regarding examination of nominating records
McPherson
- Poster present
- No map posted
- Form 4-10 (list of candidates) posted
- Form 2-12 posted
- No procedure posted regarding examination of nominating records
- No access to records without an appointment

On day one, Tuesday, I waited for 30 minutes at McPherson for the records. I arrived at about 2.40P. As I entered I noted many parents were gathering outside the building to greet their children.

Once inside I was told I had to make an appointment to see the records. I left immediately after being told that the person, the designee, I needed to speak with was unavailable. I was given a number to call for the person. I recognized the number as a CPS number and asked if it was direct. I was told it would transfer to them.

On day one, after getting home, I attempted to call the designee. I discovered the telephone number was the general switchboard for the school. I then wrote an email to Principal Carmen Mendoza at McPherson saying I would return during school hours in the next two days to review and examine the records and sharing the full document pertaining to the election process and the key paragraph regarding election records noted above.

On Wednesday, day two, I called the designee. She was out of the school for the day.

I asked who I could talk to about the records and the clerk was unfamiliar with anyone being able to help. At that point, I left a message that I would return to the school that day to examine the records.

The clerk later noted that she felt I was rude both on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Asst. Principal later asked me why I couldn’t be civil. I admitted to being more forceful on Wednesday, but noted that the AP had moved through the office a number of times on Tuesday and that he hadn’t even noticed me waiting. Clearly the clerk had a thin skin as nothing happened on Tuesday and the Wednesday message was meant for the Principal.

On Wednesday morning Mendoza called me, I was driving to the school and didn’t receive the call. She demanded to know why I was rude and required me to make an appointment.

I did not receive this call till 8P when I returned home from the day.

When I arrived at the school, I had a meeting with the AP. The AP belittled the need of the public to examine these election records and noted that the staff would not drop everything to deal with such demands. This meeting took place at about 11.30A.

I noted:

The policies of the Board of Education
The simple fact that access to the records should not be impeded
That five schools had complied with the request without incident or need for a meeting
That if a parent made the decision to run for LSC, they would most likely make it while on the school grounds, possibly leading to a surprise visit
And finally that policies that had the effect of making the parents jump through hoops, as the school was having Boylan jump, would discourage participation in the LSC process. “I’m a professional journalist,” I noted. “Imagine how these policies are regarded by your parents.”

The AP asked if Boylan was “enforcing” the law. The AP made a big point of writing down ‘he feels he is an enforcer.’

I said yes. I am enforcing the policy. The principle of seeing the documents had now reached center stage.

At this point, the AP said he would not provide the documents and had no access to them. I asked how the work of the missing person could be accomplished if no one had access to their files?

>If there was NO access, then a confrontation wasn’t necessary. I would have to return.<

However, the AP admitted that someone did have access. But it wasn’t him.

I announced I wasn’t leaving without access. The AP suggested I wait outside the building. I said I would find an out-of-the-way place and wait them out. But that I wasn’t leaving the building.

Some of this conversation between the AP and I was heated. But in general each person was respectful of the other. I felt that the AP did not understand the underpinnings of the mission for open government records. The AP felt I did not understand the need of the schools for procedures for access to the records.

What was never brought up as an issue was the security of the students. I had been sure to follow security procedures, presenting myself to the office, signing in at each school, sometimes reminding the clerk of the need for me to sign in. Security concerns didn’t seem to be an issue for McPherson School.

The meeting with the AP ended.

BOYLAN SETTLES IN; LIFE IN THE SCHOOL MOVES ON

I then settled in to a comfortable chair in the lobby, a cell phone my companion. My calls:

Jerry Boyle at the National Lawyers Guild
Paul Pinderski at Pinderski & Pinderski
Natalie Potts at the Chicago Kent School of Law, Open Government Center
Alden Loury at the Better Government Assoc./ Society for Professional Journalists
Ill. Rep. Ann Williams
The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General
Ald. Ameya Pawar
Coleman Goode, Chief of Staff of Ill. Rep. Greg Harris
Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey
Political activist and friend Joe Lake
Jane Rickard, co-owner of The Dog
Sheila Pacione, The Dog’s Business Manager

At about this time Michael Carlson, an active parent with both the Friends of McPherson and the LSC entered the school. His son was acting up and he came over in case he was needed.

The calls stopped while Boylan and Carlson settled into an unused room to talk. They talked for about three hours. At the end of that, Carlson talked to Mendoza for about five minutes. By this time it was 4.30P.

Mendoza gave Boylan access to the files, but Carlson would not allow photo copy of the material.

Afterwards Mendoza, some of her staff and Boylan’s wife, Rickard (a member of the SPJ/Headline Club and another Lisagor winner) talked for about an hour. Rickard appeared just as the confrontation was over.

In the end, The Dog got partial access and the school saved some face. No children were ever exposed to what was happening around them.

We, The Welles Park Bulldog, believe that the school still believes access to the records should be by appointment. However, we also believe that the school understands we have a deep-set belief that we are willing to die on this hill to protect public access to any records like this.

Boylan left the building at 5.10P.

FOIA OFFICE CHANGES PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY

On Thursday, February 23, Daniels called from the FOIA office to discuss our activities. They wanted us to give them several days to clarify rules regarding protecting information in the files that under FOIA should not be released.

Under FOIA the following is exempt from disclosure to the public and may be redacted:

(5 ILCS 140/7 Sec. 7 Exemptions (1) (a))

The following shall be exempt from inspection and copying:

Personal information contained within public records, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless the disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual subjects of the information. “Unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” means the disclosure of information that is highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person and in which the subject’s right to privacy outweighs any legitimate public interest in obtaining the information. The disclosure of information that bears on the public duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal privacy.

I noted that we were not using FOIA to obtain any records and cited The Chicago Public Schools 2012 Local School Council Election Guide for guidance.

We agreed not to pursue the records till we talked. Our next conversation was on Monday, February 27.

In a conversation at 12.30P between Potts, Daniels and I Daniels said CPS was changing its policy regarding inspection of election files. Moving forward a FOIA would be required for the public to inspect any nomination files.

The purpose of this policy change was to safeguard candidates from identity theft. The FOIA office intends to redact that information before allowing the public access to the records.

I proposed the CPS Law Department instead issue a letter to the schools detailing how to safeguard the information. Daniels insisted that would require a policy change, that the Law Department would take our comments under consideration only.

When we inquired about how the public could get the records in a timely manner given the significant delays in processing FOIA requests, Daniels did not make any promises. When we asked if the policy was going to be applied to all persons, or just to The Dog, Daniels did not make a commitment.

I noted to Daniels that under state law the LSC elections are held under the election code. That persons running for public office accept a lower level of privacy and finally that redacting some information would make it difficult for the public to identify possible nomination errors that would disqualify persons from the ballot.

Daniels was not moved by these arguments. As it stands, the access to these important documents has been limited.

Following that conversation I had a discussion with the Sarah Pratt, the Public Access Counselor at the Illinois Attorney General’s office. Pratt was sympathetic, but did not feel the PAC could intervene due to the situation not involving FOIA.

On Wednesday, February 29, Potts wrote a letter to CPS protesting the changes in policy. As it stands today, LSC nominating files are under the jurisdiction of the CPS FOIA office. That policy is probably not being applied in every school, but only in the Ravenswood area.

CPS to Restrict Access to LSC Election Records (short)
Schools give LSC reports to Bulldog
New and improved North Side Schools scorecard
Ravenswood and North Attendance elementary schools scorecard

Tags: Adam Robinson, Aimee DeBat, Alden Loury, Ameya Pawar, Amundsen High School, Ann Williams, Better Government Association, Budlong School, Carmen Mendoza, Cassandra Daniels, Center for Open Government, Chappell School, Chicago, Chicago Headline Club, Chicago Kent School of Law, Chicago Public Schools, Coleman Goode, David Ratowitz, Diane Shapiro, Document Cloud, education, elections, Freedom of Information Act, Friends of McPherson, government accountability, government open, government transparency, Greg Harris, Hamilton School, Harry Osterman, Heather Steans, Illinois, Illinois Attorney General, Illinois Election Code, Illinois Records Act, Illinois School Code, James Cappleman, Jerry Boyle, Joe Lake, John Cullerton, John Curry, John Fritchey, Local School Councils, McPherson School, Michael Carlson, Natalie Potts, National Lawyers Guild, Open Meetings Act, Pat O'Connor, Patrick Boylan, Paul Pinderski, Peter Coffey, Pinderski & Pinderski, Public Access Counselor, Richard Mell, Sarah Pratt, schools, Scott Waguespack, Sheila Pacione, Society of Professional Journalists, Tom Tunney, Trumbull School, Waters School, Welles Park Bulldog

This entry was posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:25 am and is filed under Neighborhood News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

LSC Review Gets Bulldog in Conflict With Schools (long)

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