House education committee holds bill on school safety records, training after debate on public-disclosure exemption

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House Committee on Education voted 7-6 Jan. 30, 2025, to hold House Bill 43 in committee at the call of the chair after a hearing on a measure that would clarify background-check requirements for people with unsupervised contact with students, require districts to develop and annually review emergency operations plans, require initial and annual staff emergency training, and exempt records and information generated under those requirements from public disclosure.

Representative Chris Mathias, R‑District 19, introduced the bill and told the committee the provisions mostly formalize practices already in use. "This is something schools are already doing," Mathias said, adding the change to the Public Records Act exemption aims to limit access by bad actors while preserving parents' ability to see relevant information. "I think this provision strikes the perfect balance."

Mathias said the language clarifies a long statute that has tried to do multiple unrelated things and moves language already used in other code sections into clearer subsections. He listed three principal components: universal background checks for anyone who has unsupervised contact with students, a requirement that districts create and maintain an emergency operations plan with annual review, and initial and annual training for all district staff.

The bill also would make "all records and information generated" under the emergency plan and training provisions exempt from public disclosure. Mathias framed the exemption around balancing transparency with operational security, telling the committee that schools commonly provide summaries to parents and, when parents need more detail, will review full plans in person: "Schools commonly send ... summaries of the plan, key pieces of information that parents really need to know," he said.

Some committee members pressed for clearer limits to preserve parental access to training details. Representative Harris said parents "would like to know what that training is" and worried an exemption could remove the current practice in which parents are escorted through plans or otherwise given access. Mathias responded that, historically, "anyone who wants this information and has good cause has historically always gotten it and will continue to always get it," and he added he would support removing the protection if parents later could not access information.

Other members emphasized operational security. Representative Garner argued against broad public release of operational details, saying that publicly available plans could be misused by an attacker and that some specifics "simply ... shouldn't be made public." Representative Clow, who moved that the bill be sent to the floor with a "do pass" recommendation, said he did not see how a meaningful training plan could be available under public-records rules without also revealing operational details of the emergency plan.

Representative Ehart offered a substitute motion to hold the bill in committee for a broader discussion and to bring in stakeholders; Representative Garner later offered an alternate substitute motion specifically to "hold House Bill 43 in committee at the call of the chair." The committee voted on the alternate substitute motion; the roll call and the committee tally were recorded in the hearing transcript and the chair announced the outcome as 7 to 6 in favor of holding the bill in committee at the call of the chair.

Representative Mathias told the committee he had shared early drafts of the bill with multiple stakeholders — including the Idaho PTA, Idaho Association of School Administrators, Idaho Education Association, Idaho School Counselors Association, School Resource Officers, the Idaho Department of Education (including Superintendent Critchfield), the Office of School Safety at the State Board of Education, Idaho School Boards Association and his own district — and said those parties' concerns were addressed in the draft before the committee.

The committee also discussed the role and composition of the Idaho School Safety and Security Advisory Board, which Mathias said had already issued guidance; members questioned how that board's composition might change under other pending legislation and whether that would affect the guidance the advisory board issues.

The committee chair said he intends to schedule further discussion and likely a public hearing if he brings the bill back. Mathias and other members requested the committee consider an informational session with agency and school leaders, including Superintendent Critchfield and other stakeholders, to better understand how public-records requests, emergency plans and training interact in practice.

Votes at a glance: hold at call of the chair — 7 yes, 6 no (roll-call recorded in the transcript; the chair announced the 7-6 result).