House committee hears bill to let school boards withhold student directory information

Chair Fowler Arthur called the House Education Committee to order and opened the first hearing on House Bill 127, a proposal to clarify whether school boards may withhold student “directory information” from public records requests.

Representative Matthews, sponsor of House Bill 127, told the committee, “This simple and straightforward bill would protect the privacy of Ohio students by granting school boards the permissive authority to withhold student directory information from public release.” He cited the definition in the Ohio Revised Code and listed items commonly considered directory information, including “a student's name, address, phone number, birth date…participation in sports, extracurricular activities, weight and height, dates of attendance, date of graduation, and awards received.”

The bill would make permissive what sponsors described as an ambiguous existing practice: school boards could choose to withhold directory data from general public requests, including anonymous requests, while retaining the option to release such information for particular, uniform purposes. Vice Chair Odioso, joining as sponsor, said the proposal “creates a simple clarification that student directory information should not be released and does not have to be released on these anonymous requests.” He added that the bill would preserve the existing requirement that schools provide name and address information to military recruiters unless a parent or eligible student elects to withhold it.

Committee members asked how the bill would affect historical research and existing exemptions. Representative Piccolantonio raised the Ohio History Connection’s use of historical directories for research; Representative Matthews replied that the intent is to preserve the historical-research exemption and said the sponsors would “confirm and get back to your office.”

Ranking Member Robinson asked for examples of harms prompting the bill. Representative Matthews said proponents would testify later and cited a local news story and “numerous examples,” including custody situations and instances where districts believed directories were used for economic purposes outside students’ interests. Representative Miller asked whether a uniform standard defines what can be included in a directory; sponsors said the bill uses the statutory definition and that schools may include additional fields.

Representatives also asked whether the bill covers private schools; sponsors said private school directories are not included because they are not public records under current law. Several members asked about implementing uniform sharing policies if a district elects to release information to particular groups; sponsors said districts would be required to apply any release “uniformly.”

The hearing ended after committee members questioned sponsors; no committee vote or formal action occurred on the bill during the session.

The committee chair said the testimony would continue at a future time.