Committee amends mandatory-disclosure bill to allow district procedures when disclosure could cause harm

The House Education Policy and Administration Committee on Thursday adopted amendment 2199h to Senate Bill 96, which addresses when school employees must respond to parental written inquiries about a student. The amendment replaces a provision that would have required referral to the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) when staff believed disclosure might result in harm; instead, it allows school districts to adopt procedures permitting staff to withhold information if "a reasonably prudent person" would believe disclosure could result in abuse, abandonment or neglect under RSA 169-C:3. Any withholding must be documented in the student's school record.

Representative Cordelli, the bill sponsor, told the committee the change narrows the earlier requirement and…