House tightens rules for school surveys, requires parental waiver and access to survey copies

Representative Hogue introduced House Bill 139 to tighten enforcement of existing restrictions on school surveys and to require that parents be given notice and a waiver opportunity whenever a survey is used in a public school. Hogue said a constituent found a 100-question survey in a middle school that contained questions about religion and other sensitive topics and could not get a copy until persistent requests were made. He read sample items into the record including, "I pray about my problems," "I believe there's life after death" and statements about religious practice as examples of questions that the sponsor says violated current law.

Supporters said the bill would simply make clear and repeat the statutory protections and require teacher training and parental notification. Representative Hogue said the bill would not be an added cost to districts because outside organizations that provide surveys would pay the cost; the bill includes a requirement to provide a copy of the survey at parental request and to secure a waiver for participation.

Opponents and skeptics raised practical concerns: some members noted statutes already prohibit certain intrusive questions, that teachers may be unaware of the law, and that getting parental waivers returned can be difficult in practice. Representative Cox called the measure "very burdensome," noting the logistic problems of obtaining signatures and the potential for administrative overhead.

After debate that included parental-experience testimony and discussion of teacher training, the House passed House Bill 139 by recorded vote, 42 yes to 27 no. The bill will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.

What happens next: The bill requires districts to secure parental waivers when surveys are used and to provide parents a copy on request; the State Office of Education will have a role in training and clarifying definitions for what counts as a survey.