Parent contact information prohibited from being designated as publicly available directory information.
HF101 amends Minnesota’s government data practices law to restrict how schools and other educational agencies handle parents’ personal contact information. Under current law, data about parents can be treated as directory information in the same way student directory information is handled. This bill removes that option for a parent’s home address, telephone number, email address, and other personal contact information, making that information private data on individuals instead of public directory information.
The bill also clarifies that student directory information rules still apply under federal law, but educational agencies must not include a parent’s personal contact information in that category. It preserves required sharing with the Minnesota Department of Education for federal reporting and allows sharing with the Department of Employment and Economic Development for special education transition planning and related disability services coordination. The effective date is the day after final enactment, and any parent contact information previously treated as directory information must be reclassified as private data.
HF101 would amend Minnesota Statutes section 13.32, subdivisions 2 and 5, by narrowing the scope of directory information in the education records context. The practical effect is to make parents’ contact information confidential across K-12 educational agencies and institutions, while leaving student directory-information procedures largely intact and preserving limited statutory disclosures for state reporting and disability-related service coordination. Schools would need to update data practices, notices, and records handling to ensure parent contact information is no longer publicly designated as directory information.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so the bill’s sentiment can only be inferred from the text and legislative movement. The bill appears to be a privacy-protective measure with a straightforward administrative purpose, and its referral and re-referral through committee suggest it was treated as a policy bill rather than a controversial measure. Overall, the available record indicates neutral-to-supportive legislative handling, with no documented opposition in the materials provided.
The main policy issue is the balance between public directory-information practices and parental privacy. Supporters would likely favor protecting parents from disclosure of home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses through school records, while any concern would center on whether limiting directory information could affect school communications, transparency, or administrative convenience. The bill specifically excludes postsecondary institutions from the new restriction, which may reflect an attempt to limit the scope of the change and reduce contention.