Senate Education Committee hears testimony on HB 127 to limit public release of student directory information

The Senate Education Committee heard proponent testimony on House Bill 127 on the bill’s second hearing, which would exempt student directory information from Ohio’s public records law and allow local boards of education to restrict release of that information.

Proponent Paul Limhoff, representing the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, told Committee Chair Brenner, Vice Chair Blessing and Ranking Member Ingram that the bill would remove directory information — including “a student's name, address, telephone listings, date [and] place of birth, major field of study, participation in official recognized activities and sports, weight, [and] height of athletes, dates of attendance, date of graduation, [and] awards received” — from mandatory public release. “This bill protects our students and maintains local controls of our schools,” Limhoff said.

Nut graf: Supporters said HB 127 is intended to update privacy protections as digital access to information grows and to give locally elected school boards authority to restrict directory releases. Committee members probed operational and policy questions, including how information already published by outside organizations would interact with the exemption and how districts should update their policies.

Limhoff said the bill governs what schools must or may do and does not control information parents choose to share with outside organizations. “If the parent gives it to an outside group, then that's the parent's choice,” he said. He also told the committee that some districts have received increasing numbers of anonymous requests for entire student registries and that schools want the ability “not to hand that information out.”

Ranking Member Ingram asked whether information printed in athletic programs or provided to groups such as the Ohio High School Athletic Association could create responsibility for the school to release the same information. Limhoff responded it depends on who provided the information and reiterated that districts generally honor parents’ requests to withhold information when parents do not want it listed. He also described common policy-maintenance practices in Ohio districts, saying districts typically work with the Ohio School Boards Association or NEOLA and “would look at policies at least every six months” and update them when state law changes.

The committee received a written testimony from Ryan McLean, superintendent of Big Walnut Local Schools. No vote was taken; the committee chair concluded the second hearing on House Bill 127.

Less critical details: Paul Limhoff said Melena Birney of the Ohio School Boards Association and Katie Johnson (with OASBO) were joined to the testimony roster though Johnson was not present. The record shows proponents framed the bill as preserving local control and addressing anonymous public-records requests; the transcript does not record any formal amendments, committee direction to staff, or a committee vote on the bill.