Michigan School Charges Parent $33 Million for FOIA Request

Yikes. Want to get the info in a freedom of information request? No problem. Just pay us $33 million.

Don’t worry though. You can just pay us half upfront to get started.

You can read the full article here or listen to our podcast on this topic.

Three Rochester, Michigan mothers are battling their local school district over exorbitant fees levied for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Two claim they were quoted fees of tens of millions of dollars for accessing emails and curriculum records, while a third faced denial of her request.

The district claims the fees reflect the substantial staff time required for reviewing and redacting documents, while the mothers suspect the district is obstructing transparency and potentially concealing information.

These incidents follow a previous settlement where the district paid a parent nearly $190,000 after allegedly targeting her for criticism.