Chicago Public Schools did not violate FOIA by withholding OIG laptop inventory data under 7.5(h)

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Dear and Ms. Righi:

This determination is issued pursuant to section 9.5(f) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/9.5(f) (West 2023 Supp.)).

On January 22, 2024, submitted a FOIA request to Chicago Public Schools ( CPS) seeking, in relevant part, copies of "[ s] chool by school CPS inventory documents of the 77,505 laptop devices in total that had been reported as lost or stolen and mentioned in the [ 2023] CPS OIG' s Annual Report[,]" including the " total number of laptops given to each school, number of laptops given out to students and CPS employees, number of laptops returned by both, and the number of laptops reported as lost or stolen by both." 1 Upon On March 28, 2024, CPS provided with a responsive dataset and explained the "cited '77,505' figure from the referenced OIG report is a count of 'tech devices,' information about tech devices, not just laptops, has been provided in response to this request. Due to the difference in analysis using methodology, the numbers may not align with the OIG report."3 CPS also informed that to "the extent the OIG maintains a dataset reflecting the 77,505 figure ," this information would be exempt from disclosure pursuant to section 7.5(h) of FOIA .4 On April 25, 2024, submitted the above -referenced Request for Review complaining that "CPS failed to provide me with the school-by-school breakdown of the 77,505 lost or stolen laptops (and tech devices) that were at the center of a CPS OIG investigation ."5 alleged that CPS failed to provide him with inventory documents that must have been accessed by CPS Inspector General [OIG] in its investigation. He contended : "CPS OIG had to go through CPS inventory records to declare 77,505 laptops and tech devices) were lost or stolen as the CPS OIG doesn't maintain those CPS inventory records, especially as CPS and the CPS OIG are separate entities from each other." 6 On May 15 , 2024 , this office forwarded a copyof the Request for Review to CPS and asked it to provide a written answer responding to allegation that CPS did not provide him with all records responsive to his request as well as a detailed description of its search process. On May 17 , 2024, this office received CPS' written response. On May 28 , 2024, this office forwarded a copy of CPS' response to he replied on June 24, 2024.

On May 1, 2025, an Assistant Attorney General ( AAG) in the Public Access Bureau e-mailed CPS' FOIA officer, Annie Righi, and asked if CPS could provide copies of any records withheld pursuant to section 7.5(h). On that same date, Ms. Righi informed the AAG that CPS' FOIA Office does not possess any such records because the OIG "generally does not

DETERMINATION

All records in the custody or possession of a public body are presumed to be open to inspection or copying." 5 ILCS 140/ 1.2 ( West 2022). When presented with a FOIA request, a public body is required to conduct a "reasonable search tailored to the nature of [that] particular request." Campbell v. U.S. Dep't of Justice , 164 F.3d 20, 28 (D.C. Cir. 1998). Although a public body is not required to perform an exhaustive search of every possible location, the body must construe FOIA requests liberally and search those places that are reasonably likely to contain responsive records.'" Better Government Ass' n v. City of Chicago , 2020 IL App (1st) 190038, ¶ 31 (quoting Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice , 373 F. Supp. 3d 120, 126 (D.D.C. 2019)). "[T]he adequacy of a FOIA search is generally determined not by the fruits of the search, but by the appropriateness of the methods used to carry out the search." Iturralde v. Comptroller of Currency , 315 F.3d 311, 315 ( D.C. Cir. 2003). A public body is obligated to devise appropriate search parameters. See Oglesby v. U.S. Department of the Army , 920 F.2d 57, 68 ( D.C. Cir. 1990).

In its response to this office, CPS reiterated that it sent a copy of the requested datasets in its possession. CPS explained that this dataset was obtained by its Information and Technology Service Department ( IT Department), and it reflects " the requested total number of devices ' given to each school, [] given out to students and CPS employees, [] returned by both, and [] reported as lost or stolen by both .'"9 Further, CPS addressed the allegations set forth in Request for Review by stating the following:

Emphasis in original).

In his reply, asserted that CPS must possess responsive inventory records "detailing the $23M (77,505) in lost or missing laptops (and tech devices) from each school in the 3rd largest school district in the nation [.]"11 He alleged that it is unlikely that the withheld information came directly from the OIG' s "unique analysis" and not from existing CPS inventory records.

On May 9, 2025, the AAG spoke with Ms. Righi and discussed the origins of these datasets. According to Ms. Righi, CPS pulled the dataset that was provided to from the only database that houses this type of information. This is the same type of dataset that CPS Asset Management provided to the OIG. Although the information in the dataset might not reflect the 77,505 total listed in the OIG Annual Report, Ms. Righ i explained that CPS' dataset was current as of the date it was pulled in response to request. Ms. Righi reiterated that the 77,505 total included CPS' raw data plus any OIG investigation notes/analysis.

As an initial matter, CPS explained that its efforts to loc ate non- exempt responsive school inventory data consisted of searching for and compiling data documenting lost or missing devices at the time the data was pulled to respond to FOIA request. Based on this office's review, the data reflects only a small fraction of the number of lost or The data that is responsive is referenced in the 2023 annual report, which states that the OIG's findings were based on its analysis of data the OIG received from CPS Asset Management on September 2, 2022. The raw data CPS Asset Management that was provided to the OIG and analyzed by the OIG is therefore responsive to request for "school by school inventory documents of the 77,505 laptop devices in total that had been reported as lost or stolen [.]" Section 7.5(h) of FOIA exempts "[ i]nformation the disclosure of which is exempted under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act [SOEEA], and records of any lawfully created State or local inspector general's office that would beexempt if created or obtained by an Executive Inspector General's office under that Act." Sections 20 -95(b) and (d) of the SOEEA12 provide:

b) Any allegations and related documents submitted to an Executive Inspector General and any pleadings and related documents brought before the Executive Ethics Commission are exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act so long as the Executive Ethics Commission does not make a finding of a violation of this Act. * * * d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, all investigatory files and reports of the Office of an Executive Inspector General, other than monthly reports required under Section 20 -85, are confidential and privileged, are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act , and shall not be divulged to any person or agency, except as necessary (i) to a law enforcement authority, (ii) to the ultimate jurisdictional authority, iii) to the Executive Ethics Commission, ( iv) to another Inspector General appointed pursuant to this Act, or (v) to an Inspector General appointed or employed by a Regional Transit Board in accordance with Section 75 -10. (Emphasis added.)

The inventory records responsive to request were obtained by the OIG from CPS Asset Management and used in an OIG investigation . Even if CPS Asset Management still maintains a copy of the same data it furnished to OIG , those records are OIG investigatory records. Accordingly, this office concludes that those records are exempt from disclosure pursuant to section 7.5(h) of FOIA.

The Public Access Counselor has determined that resolution of this matter does not require the issuance of a binding opinion. If you have any questions, you may contact me by mail at the Chicago address listed on the first page of this letter or by e -mail at c.lucentemccullough@ilag. gov. This letter serves to close this file.

Very truly yours, CHRISTINA LUCENTE-MCCULLOUGH Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 81235 f 3a search improper 75h proper sd