In its second binding opinion issued for 2018, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office concluded that a municipality must provide a municipal water customer’s name in response to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking that information. The opinion, Public Access Opinion 18-002, was issued after a school district submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to a municipality seeking a municipal water bill for a specific address served by ... Read More
Dissatisfied With Your School District Boundary? A boundary change is possible.
Believe it or not, school district boundaries can be changed not only by a school district, but also by 2/3 of the registered voters in any “territory” proposed to be detached from one school district and attached to another. Detachment is basically a form of boundary reorganization where a portion of one school district is incorporated into one or more other school districts. It can be done by one or more families or even residents of a larger ... Read More
School Boards: Challenging Arbitration by Refusing to Arbitrate
Binding arbitration is required to be part of a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) between a school board and teachers union, and a school board’s refusal to arbitrate grievances under the CBA generally violates 115 ILCS 5/14(a)(1) of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (“Act”), which provides: “Educational employers, their agents or representatives are prohibited from [] [i]nterfering, restraining or coercing employees in the ... Read More
School Boards: When May a School Board Refuse to Arbitrate a Grievance?
As the Illinois Supreme Court held in Board of Education of the City of Chicago v. Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, 215 IL 118043: “A school district may refuse to arbitrate a grievance where: (1) there is no contractual agreement to arbitrate the substance of the dispute or (2) the dispute is not arbitrable under section 10(b) of the Act because the subject matter of the dispute conflicts with Illinois law.” As the Court further held, ... Read More
Spesia & Taylor Respresents Clients in Detachment Hearing Before Will County Regional Board of Education
Attorney Michael Stiff successfully handled a detachment proceeding pursuant to the Illinois School Code before the Will County Regional Board of Education. In that petition, filed by two property owners located several miles apart, the families sought to detach their property from the Peotone School District and Annex into the Manhattan Grade School District and Lincoln-Way High School District. ... Read More
