To better serve the community, McHenry Elementary School District 15 offers Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) forms and documents online as a public courtesy.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a state statue that provides the public the right to access government documents and records. The premise behind FOIA is that the public has a right to know what the government is doing. The law provides that a person can ask a public body for a copy of its records on a specific subject and the public body must provide those records, unless there is an exemption in the statute that protects those records from disclosure.

District 15 is obligated to respond within 5 business days after the request is received. Day 1 of the 5 day timeline is the first business day after the request is received by the public body. There are several exceptions to public disclosure that included but are not limited to: private information, personal information, law enforcement records, preliminary drafts, business trade secrets, proposals and bids until a final selection is made and requests that are duly burdensome. The requestor will be notified in writing by specifying the reasons for the denial. The requestor has the right to appeal the public body’s response by filing a request for review with the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor within 60 calendar days.