Ohio bill would let local school boards withhold student directory information

House Bill 127 would allow local school boards to withhold student directory information from public release, sponsors told the House Education Committee during the bill’s first hearing.

Representative Matthews and Vice Chair Odioso said the bill clarifies that directory information — the record elements listed in Ohio Revised Code 3319.321, including name, address, phone number, birth date, participation in extracurricular activities, dates of attendance, and awards — should not automatically be treated as public for any requester. Under current law parents or students over 18 may elect to withhold directory information; sponsors said HB127 would remove ambiguity that lets anonymous requesters obtain the data for nonacademic uses.

The bill’s sponsors stressed that the proposal is permissive: school boards could continue releasing directory information for defined, uniform purposes such as sharing student lists with colleges or employers, and the bill would preserve the existing option for students or parents to opt out. The sponsors also said the bill would maintain the current military-recruiter exception unless a student or parent elects to withhold that information.

Committee members pressed sponsors on practical and policy details. Representative Piccolantonio asked if the Ohio History Connection’s access to directories for historical research would be affected; sponsors said the intent is to preserve that research exemption but pledged to confirm the bill language and share the clarification with the committee. Representative Robinson asked for specific examples of misuse; sponsors cited community requests and a news story involving the Big Walnut School District as instances where directory lists were used in ways the sponsors contend were not in students’ best interests.

Members also asked whether private schools are covered (sponsors said they are not, because private-school directories are not public records) and whether districts may define different directory contents; sponsors said the code provides a baseline but local districts may add additional fields. Representatives raised concerns that opting out could exclude students from beneficial communications and that permissive local policies must be uniformly applied to avoid exclusionary practices.

The committee did not vote on HB127; sponsors asked for favorable consideration and said they would provide the committee additional clarifications about the Ohio History Connection exemption and examples of misuse cited in testimony. The committee concluded the bill’s first hearing and indicated further discussion is expected at a later date.