N.H. Senate Education Committee hears hours of testimony on House Bill 10, parental-rights bill drawing sharp debate over medical access and student privacy

The New Hampshire Senate Education Committee opened a public hearing on House Bill 10, a proposed "Parental Bill of Rights," drawing more than two hours of testimony from legislators, medical providers, child-welfare officials, teachers and dozens of members of the public.

Proponents told the panel the measure would put long-scattered parental rights into a single statute and give parents clearer, enforceable routes to information about their children’s school experience. Representative Deborah DeSimone, one of the bill’s presenters, said the measure is intended to make it easier for parents to find and exercise rights that now are scattered across statutes and local policies. "Parents deserve transparency. House Bill 10 provides that protection," Representative DeSimone said during her presentation.

Nut graf: Supporters framed HB 10 as an effort to consolidate existing parental rights and standardize school notification practices; opponents, including child-welfare officials, medical societies and civil-rights groups, warned the bill as written would require schools and health-care providers to disclose sensitive information — including medical and behavioral-health records and, critics say, students’ sexual orientation or gender identity — in ways that could endanger vulnerable students, conflict with federal privacy standards and invite legal challenges.

Most important facts: The bill would create a new chapter described in the draft as a parental bill of rights and contains multiple provisions that would (1) require schools and school personnel to respond immediately or within five days to parental inquiries about "any and all matters" relating to a minor child; (2) give parents access to and review of a child’s medical records as the child’s personal representative unless a court order or an ongoing investigation provides otherwise; (3) require written parental consent before health-care…