Committee advances bill extending student privacy protections to parents' directory information

House File 101, carried by Representative Kristin Feist, was moved before the Committee and the DE1 amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill expands 2023 student-directory privacy protections to cover parents' contact information and clarifies when districts may disclose parent directory information for school referendum campaigns.

Valerie Doseland, representing education organizations including superintendents and school boards, told the committee the bill would align parent-data protections with the changes made for student directory information in 2023. Doseland said districts sought a limited exception: if a district chooses to provide parent directory information for school referendum campaigns, it must make that policy uniform and make the information available to any registered, eligible campaign committee regardless of position.

Committee staff and members discussed how the proposal aligns with federal privacy law. Mr. Hopkins, who staffs committee matters, explained that the bill's reference to federal provisions points to FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and its implementing regulations; the DE1 language is intended to require that directory-information designations follow both state law and FERPA.

Members asked about staff access and misuse. Representative Curran noted incidents where school employees improperly accessed student or parent information; Mr. Hopkins said government data-practices obligations already limit dissemination to employees who have a justifiable, employment-related reason to access protected information. Representative Steer asked whether related federal protections (including provisions commonly cited under 20 U.S.C.) were encompassed; Mr. Hopkins answered that the DE1 language references FERPA's rules for directory information.

Representative Feist said the change is meant to reduce predatory contacts to students and families, including misleading scholarship solicitations, while preserving legitimate uses (for example, district communications and certain college or workforce outreach where consent is provided). After adopting the DE1 amendment, Representative Feist renewed a motion to re-refer House File 101 to the Education Policy Committee; the motion was approved by voice vote and the bill was re-referred.

The committee record shows the DE1 amendment was adopted and House File 101 was re-referred to the Education Policy Committee for further consideration.