7.5(r)

How the Public Access Counselor has treated 7.5(r)

Section 7.5(r) applies when another Illinois law specifically makes records confidential and bars disclosure under FOIA. In these decisions, the laws most often cited were the Illinois School Student Records Act for student-related records, and the School Code and the Personnel Record Review Act for teacher evaluation records.

The Public Access Counselor generally agreed that anecdotal teacher notes about students, student incident and discipline reports, and teacher evaluation performance results were protected and properly withheld, even when requesters suggested redacting names. A parent request for a child's school records was also treated as governed by the student-records law rather than FOIA. In one case, however, the Counselor found a violation where a district redacted enrollment counts of fewer than 10 without showing that disclosure would invade privacy or violate student-record protections.

At a glance: 5 documents(0 binding opinions, 5 determination letters). Most often cited alongside: 7(1)(a) (Federal/State-law confidentiality — or public defender case files, for documents issued under the other amendment version) (2); 7(1)(b) (Private information) (1); 7(1)(c) (Personal privacy) (1); 7(1)(j)(ii) (Peer evaluation of faculty) (1).

Recurring issues

• Whether small student enrollment counts of fewer than 10 per school can be withheld to prevent identifying students. (Student enrollment counts by feeder grammar school)
• Whether teachers' anecdotal notes about student behavior are protected student records. (Teacher anecdotal notes on student behaviors)
• Whether teacher evaluation performance results remain exempt even if personal identifiers are removed. (Teacher evaluation performance task results)
• Whether student incident and discipline reports can be withheld because details would still identify students after redaction. (Incident reports and disciplinary records of student altercations)
• Whether a parent's request for a child's school records is handled under FOIA or under the student-records law. (A school district's communications about a student harassment complaint)

Practical points

• A public body that withholds small cell-size enrollment numbers should explain with evidence how disclosure would identify students or violate privacy protections.
• A requester seeking a child's school records may need to follow the procedures of the student-records law rather than FOIA.
• A public body withholding records under this provision should identify the specific confidentiality law that applies, such as the student-records law, the School Code, or the Personnel Record Review Act.
• Removing names alone may not make student incident reports or teacher evaluation records available if another statute protects them from disclosure.

Summary drafted from the linked decisions and checked against them; read the decisions themselves before relying on it. Not legal advice.