School choice group sues CPS, Springfield

School Choice Ohio has filed a public records lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court against the Cincinnati and Springfield school districts.

The lawsuit claims the districts are illegally withholding the names and addresses of students eligible for Educational Choice scholarships.

The scholarships provide low-income families more than $4,000 a year in tax money to send their children to private schools instead of public schools. The supply of scholarships, however, far exceeds the demand. School Choice Ohio is trying to get the word out to parents that the scholarships are available.

Cincinnati Public Schools says it would be a violation of federal law to release students’ contact information.

School Choice Ohio says the district “deliberately and systematically withheld public records” to avoid giving School Choice Ohio the information it needs.

Public schools lose state funding when students transfer to private schools. Although some private schools contact families individually, Ohio law does not require eligible families to be notified about the scholarship.

A win by School Choice Ohio could lead to drastic enrollment drops at some schools and could redefine student privacy rules.

At issue is how districts handle contact information for students – something federal law terms “directory information.”

School Choice Ohio annually makes a public records request of every school district in the state to get the contact information of qualifying families. Federal law allows districts to share the “directory information” with School Choice and other organizations like colleges or charities.

Most districts readily provide it, according to the suit. But the law also lets districts set their own policies for sharing the information.

Cincinnati says its policies only allow disclosure of student names, the activities in which students participated and the awards they received – but not addresses, phone numbers or which school they attend.

CPS told The Enquirer that its policy was crafted with the input of parents.

But the lawsuit also points to examples in which individual schools go against CPS’ policy. The PTAs at Walnut Hills High School and Kilgour Elementary School publish and sell student directories containing directory information.

The district also releases that information to employers, businesses and colleges, according to the lawsuit.

In a broader context, this ruling could affect how Ohio school districts deal with student privacy and to whom they release names and addresses, according to School Choice attorney David Movius.

“Directory information is broadly cited by districts as a basis of blocking the release of information and is overused,” he said. “So certainly a favorable ruling would clarify that federal privacy law is not a tool schools can use to keep schools and families in the dark. It’s a legal requirement across the board. We want it to set precedent in Ohio. “It could be a very important ruling.”

The case is scheduled for mediation. If the sides can’t resolve it, the Ohio Supreme Court will rule on it. ■