Customer Name:
K.M. Bookbinder
| HelloCollege is a college counseling firm based in the western suburbs of Chicago and we are dedicated to helping your districts families into and through the college admissions process. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act| 5 ILCS 140| I am requesting an opportunity to obtain copies of public records of the student directory information for all 9th through 11th graders within your school district. I would appreciate an electronic copy of the following: – Parents First Name – Parents Last Name – Parent Email Address – Primary Mailing Address (including street address| city| state| and zip) – Primary Phone – Student First Name – Student Last Name – Student Grade Level – School of Enrollment We intend to solicit our complimentary College Planning workshop series| including our twice monthly proctored practice ACT & SAT exams to all of the high school or near high school families in your school district. This is a commercial request in as much as some families in your district will choose to hire our services. I do look forward to hearing from you in writing within five working days| as required by Act 5 ILCS 140(3). Thank you for considering and responding to this request. If you decide to deny any or all of this request| please cite each specific exemption justifying your denial. Lastly| if required| please inform me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law. |
Response:
| Your request is denied. Information such as home addresses| personal e-mail addresses| and home or personal telephone numbers are considered “private information|” and therefore are exempt under Section 7(1)(b) of FOIA. See also 5 ILCS 140/2(c-5). Additionally| information such as name and grade level| if provided| would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and are therefore exempt under Section 7(1)(c) of FOIA| as the students’ privacy interests outweigh any commercial interest in the information. Lastly| the release may be prohibited pursuant to the Illinois School Student Records Act| 105 ILCS 10/1 et seq. and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act| 20 U.S.C. §1232g. Therefore the requested information is also exempt under Section 7(1)(a) and 7.5(r) of FOIA. Although we have denied your request| we recognize that it was made in an effort to provide students with information about your program(s) and service(s). Accordingly| please feel free to send any brochures and program descriptions to our Directors of Counseling Jen Regnier [[email protected]] and Michael Holland [[email protected]] and they may pass this information on to qualified or interested students. |