Resident urges Hinsdale D86 to revisit FOIA redaction policy, says policy is both overbroad and overly restrictive

Kim Hatanaka addressed the Policy Committee during public comment on May 4, urging the district to review its FOIA redaction policy. Hatanaka said the policy appears to be used to obtain community members’ names and related correspondence, and argued that some redaction rules are either too permissive or too restrictive.

Hatanaka told the committee the policy "is being used against community members" and said officials should reconsider whether directory-style FOIA requests should expose private individuals. She also raised a specific concern about redaction thresholds, saying a notation of "below 10" for small counts can be meaningless and that a score of one on an Advanced Placement item should not be redacted when more than 10 tests were given because it could be identified by readers.

The committee did not take immediate action on Hatanaka’s request; the district’s public-comment rules were read at the meeting and board members noted public comment is for presenting input rather than engaging in back-and-forth. Committee members acknowledged Hatanaka’s concerns and indicated staff would take the comment into account as they review related policies and administrative procedures.

The committee’s deliberations later covered a set of policy and administrative updates that staff said would be brought into compliance with upcoming state and federal requirements; any formal change to redaction practice would require further review and, where necessary, board action.