Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are done with releasing any information about whether their students are victims of gun violence. This should surprise no one since they also refuse to divulge how many of their students are even arrested on school grounds. The public is also loathe to access data about the number of suspensions or expulsions in the Chicago public school system. Basically, their motto to the public has been and continues to be “the less you know the better.”

How does CPS justify refusing to say whether a young person who has been shot or killed is one of their students? Confidentiality:

CPS spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus said they’re trying to protect parents and students privacy. She said the district’s legal team advises the district not to tell reporters whether shooting victims attend public schools in the city.

Sainvilus said victim information must come from the Chicago Police Department or the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

But when WBEZ called the Chicago Police Department Wednesday, a spokesman said police don’t have access to student records and couldn’t say where a victim went to school. He suggested calling CPS.

Does CPS’s claim of a need to “protect” students and their families under federal law stand up to scrutiny? Of course not:

Frank LaMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said there is nothing in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that prevents districts from providing basic information about a student. He said it’s more likely CPS is withholding information for other reasons.

“Many schools are really, really image conscious and really sensitive to the idea that the public might get the impression that this is a dangerous place to go to school,” he said.

Back in the day, CPS used to be a bit more forthcoming with data about the number of their students shot and killed. The school system would provide some stakeholders with information through FOIA requests.

Below is a chart that outlines the numbers of CPS students shot and skilled from 2007 to 2011. Since the 2011-2012 school year, CPS has clamped down on providing information to the public.

CPS Student Shootings from the ’07-’08  Through 10’-11’ School Years

* 2010/11 only covers September through January months.

Time permitting, I will share a detailed list of CPS student victims in firearm related incidents in the coming days (for the 2010/2011 school year which is the most recent data publicly available). It’s a list that belies the fact that CPS collects tons of details about these matters.

WBEZ provides a list based on press accounts of the number of CPS students killed so far in 2013. The list was unconfirmed by CPS.