New Lincoln-Way 210 Financial Committee Questioned on FOIA Denial

Frankfort resident Christine Zimmerman appealed to the two newest Board of Education members in a speech Thursday to the newly-formed L-W 210 District Financial Committee at Lincoln-Way Central High School.

Kathleen Casey and Christopher Lucchetti represent the Lincoln-Way 210 Board of Education on the 16-member committee, which is so new, members have yet to be sworn in.

Citing this week’s story in the Chicago Tribune, Zimmerman expressed concern that the Board of Education was not receiving pertinent information from the Administration, as evidenced by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for capital repairs that was repeatedly denied until recently.

Zimmerman asked Casey and Lucchetti to add a vote to the May 12 Board of Education meeting agenda to rescind the closure of Lincoln-Way North until all “hard questions” have been thoroughly answered.

Zimmerman said this in her speech:

“I am here to ask you, Ms. Casey and Mr. Lucchetti, if your employees--the superintendent and former assistant superintendent--have TRULY shared every single Freedom of Information Act request with you – as well the results. Do you really know how your employees are treating your constituents when we ask critical questions? And do you really know the information they are providing to us? I wonder. Because here’s a really pertinent example. You may have read about this in today’s Chicago Tribune. Mrs. Molinare is personally familiar with this one. I’ll be sure to share this speech with her.

“Back in September, when the community was coming out of its stupor about the vote to close Lincoln-Way North, we stepped up our intensity with really hard questions. Questions the board should have asked before August, but that’s another story.

“A key question we had was based off of something Ms. Molinare requested herself: “What needs to get fixed at each of the four schools, and how much will it cost to make the repairs?” At first, we were emailing cordially back and forth. Ms. Molinare stated via email on Sept 7: “The list you are referring to is a "wish" list, I have been told, of repairs/expenses possibly needed in the future at the schools. I do not have the list electronically available. Of course, the older schools would require more improvements than the newer schools according to the list. I will work on getting the list to you electronically.” By Sept. 16, the wall was up, and Ms. Molinare stated in email that we would have to file a FOIA request for the capital improvements list. She was kind enough to share key words for us to use in that request: life safety, maintenance, five-year.

“When this became a question via FOIA, Mr. Sawin got involved. His response on Oct. 27, after we had to prod him a few times: “As you know, the District is not required to “create” documents to respond to a FOIA request. Stated formally, we are denying your request. The reason for this denial is that we have no documents that meet your request.”

“In today’s Trib article, your new PR person, Taryn Atwell, said the list of necessary capital improvements and costs was “shared with board members last August. She noted that it has since been provided to the public. Yeah—this past Monday after at least two FOIA denials from back in the fall, stating the list didn’t exist! We asked the very helpful new FOIA officer, and he gave us the list within days.

“Atwell went on to tell the Trib reporter that these capital improvements are “unfunded, five-year outlooks.” And that these capital projects continue to be deferred because of the years of deficit spending. Perhaps no one told Taryn about the District getting bids to repair the roof on Lincoln-Way Central. Clearly, no one told her the District had accepted RFPs. We have all the names of companies that expressed interest in the roofing job at Central. Clearly, it was going to get funded. There was even a bid meeting scheduled, according to illinoisbids.com. It was scheduled for March 1. It was cancelled on a significant day -- Feb. 29.

Total repairs at Lincoln-Way Central, including the roof job, are estimated at $4.6M. Estimated repairs at LWN are $120,000. Freedom of Information is a powerful tool, you can see. You can know the same information we all do. But you, alone, can act on it. We can only implore you to see the light, and uphold your vows.

“Ms. Casey, Mr. Lucchetti, please add to the May 12 BOE agenda a vote on whether to keep the decision on Lincoln-Way North High School. If the decision is so clear after everything each of you has learned since August 13, then no harm done, right? But what if the decision is NOT so clear. What if that vote was based on horrible lack of information – or intentional misinformation? Trust us—it is the wrong decision to close Lincoln-Way North. We have the information. You can have it, too. Rescind the vote.”

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