Thirteen days ago, the Illinois Attorney General’s office directed Yorkville School District 115 to release the audio recording of an unlawful closed meeting, but now District Officials are refusing to comply.
The meeting in question was a closed “executive session” discussion about the removal of the book Just Mercy from the curriculum for being “too controversial”. However, Chief Deputy Attorney General Brent Stratton determined that the Board of Education had no right to conceal their discussion from public view.
On December 27th, 2023, Stratton concluded in a 17 page determination letter that the closed meeting was a violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA), and he ordered the meeting records released:
“In accordance with these findings of fact and conclusions of law, the Board is directed to remedy this violation by disclosing to Ms. Grzywa and making publicly available the August 7, 2023, closed session verbatim recording. The discrete portions of the recording that refer to a particular student may be redacted. The Board is further directed to revise its August 7, 2023, closed session minutes to provide a meaningful summary of all matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, and then to disclose to Ms. Grzywa and make publicly available those minutes as well. As required by section 3.5(e) of OMA, the Board shall either take necessary action as soon as practical to comply with the directives of this opinion or shall initiate administrative review under section 7.5 of OMA. 5 ILCS 120/7.5 (West 2022).”
Mary Grzywa filed a complaint with the Public Access Counselor (PAC) on September 28th, 2023, which prompted their investigation. The PAC’s final determination was issued in the form of a “binding opinion”, which means it carries the power of law.
On December 31st, Check CU published an article about the complaint and the PAC’s determination. The next day, Check CU sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Yorkville Community Unit School District 115, asking for copies of meeting recordings, including the August 7th meeting recording which the PAC ordered to be made publicly available.
On January 9th, the district denied that request, arguing that “the Open Meetings Act prohibits the release of closed session recordings and minutes to the public.” The denial was issued by District FOIA Officer Cathy Anderson.
Check CU has also searched online, including on the Yorkville District 115 website and their Youtube Channel, for any place that the District might have made the August 7th meeting recording “publicly available”, in accordance with the AG order, but the recording could not be located.
The District’s refusal to comply with the directive issued by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office may be an indication that the Board of Education is planning to take the binding opinion to court to seek a reversal. If the District chooses that route, they have until January 31st to file a lawsuit in either Cook County or Sangamon County, naming the Attorney General of Illinois and Ms. Mary Grzywa as defendants.
The Yorkville Community Unit School District 115 FOIA denial, as well as the December 27th PAC binding opinion, can be viewed below:
Loading…
Reload document 
Open in new tab
Loading…
I feel it is only right for the school district to release meeting recordings (minus any references to students/families names). It is the public’s right to understand the reason that a book is being removed from the curriculum.
Perhaps a reading choice can be provided to families and students prior to the school year.
Those that choose Book A take the class with Teacher A.
Those that choose Book B take the class with Teacher B.
Book banning does not sound very supportive of freedom… One would wonder what the people that thought the title were controversial were uo to.