State Required Documents

FOIA Request Form

To request records under the Freedom of Information Act, please download the following form and submit it to the VASE office at 15009 Catlin-Tilton Rd. Tilton, IL 61833.

Freedom of Information Act Requests - Available/Exempted Records

Vermilion Association for Special Education

Pertaining to Requests for Information under the Freedom of Information Act

Statutory Requirement: P.A. 96-0542 (eff. January 1, 2010) requires that public entities in the State of Illinois give the public access to the full and complete public record. The General Assembly declares that that it is the public policy of the State of Illinois that access by all persons to public records promotes the transparency and accountability of public bodies at all levels of government to operate openly and provide public records as expediently and efficiently as possible (5 ILCS 140/1). Public policy does not obligate governing bodies to allow requests that are unwarranted invasions of personal privacy, allow requests of a commercial enterprise, or disrupt the duly-undertaken work of the any public body apart from the fulfillment of the rights of the people to access information (P.A. 96-0542, Sec. 1). The Freedom of Information Act does not obligate any public body to create or maintain a public record which was not maintained or prepared by the public body at the time that this act became effective, except for any records that have become required by applicable local, state, or federal law.

Public Records: “Public records” are all records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps, photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data processing records, electronic communications, recorded information and all other documentary materials pertaining to the transaction of public business, regardless of physical form or purpose.

Exempt Records: The following information is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom Of Information Act:

1. Any information specifically prohibited from disclosure by State or federal law.

2. Private information, unless disclosure is required under another provision under this act, State Law, federal law or court orders.

3. Personal information contained within the public records, 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 privacy” means disclosure of information that is highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person and in which the person’s right to privacy outweighs any legitimate public interest in obtaining the information.

4. Records protected from disclosure under certain enumerated statutes, including, for example, FERPA, ISSRA and the Library Records Confidentiality Act.

5. Records relating to the adjudication of employee grievances or disciplinary cases; however, this exemption shall not extend to the final outcome of cases in which discipline is imposed.

6. Records relating to collective bargaining, except for the final agreement.

7. Information relating to educational matters:

• Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data
• Information regarding the district’s adjudication of student disciplinary cases, but only to the extent that disclosure would  unavoidably reveal the identity of the student
• Course or research materials used by faculty
  

8. Information received by a primary or secondary school under its procedures for evaluating faculty members by their academic peers.

9. Preliminary drafts and notes in which opinions are expressed or policies or actions are formulated, except when publicly cited and identified by the head of the school district.

10. Records in possession of the school district created in the course of administrative enforcement proceedings.

11. Proposals and bids for contracts, grants or agreements until an award or final selection is made.

12. Financial information that would cause competitive harm.

13. Architects’ plans, engineers’ technical submissions, and other construction-related technical documents that compromise security of the district and/or its facilities.

14. Valuable formulae, computer geographic systems, designs, drawings and research data produced by or obtained by the public body when disclosure could produce private gain or public loss.

15. Proprietary information and records related to the operation of intergovernmental risk management assessment or self-insurance pool.

16. Closed session minutes, unless the school district makes such minutes public under  Sec. 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.

17. Attorney/Auditor communications and materials.

18. Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to determine qualification for a license or employment.

19. Real estate purchase negotiations records until negotiations are completed or otherwise terminated.

Submitting Requests For Information: Any member of the public wanting access to non-exempt public records as defined under the Freedom Of Information Act should submit a request in written form, via email, U.S. Mail, fax transmission, or delivered in person, and submit a request to:

Freedom of Information Officer
Vermilion Association for Special Education
15009 Catlin-Tilton Rd.
Tilton, IL 61833

The following staff members are “Freedom of Information Officers”:

Kristin Dunker, Director (primary)

The requester may be asked to supply a reason for a request simply to determine if the request is made for a commercial purpose and to determine whether or not to waive any reproduction fees. Records maintained in an electronic format will be sent in the same format to a requester at no charge.

Request Submission Procedure: The FOIA Officer will note the date a request for public records is received. The District has 5 business days to respond to any request for public records after receipt of a request. The district is entitled to an additional 5 business days if:

• The request is unduly burdensome;
• If the documents are difficult to locate or stored in another location; or
• The documents require examination prior to dissemination.
  

The District will notify the requester in writing if an additional 5 days are required to respond to a request for public records, which will also include the reasons for the delay in response.

Denial of a Request: The FOIA Officer will notify the requester in writing of denial of a request, which will include the specific statutory reasons for denial. A requester may appeal the decision to the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor.

Requests made for commercial purposes: The school district has 21 days to make an initial response to any request for public records made for a commercial purpose, and a reasonable time to comply with such requests. It is a violation of the Freedom of Information Act for a requester not to disclose that a request is made for a commercial purpose, if so requested by the school district.

Copy Fees: No fees will be charged for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies. Ten cents ($0.10) per page will be charged after the first 50 pages. The fees charged for color or larger-sized prints will represent the actual cost of producing such copies. No fees will be assessed to cover the cost for search and review of requested records, or personnel costs to make copies.