No. HB 7021
Filed under Education.
OGSR/Examination and Assessment Instruments; Expands exemption from public record requirements for examination & assessment instruments to include such instruments when held by certain entities; requires SBE & BOG to adopt certain rules & regulations governing retention & disposal process for specified record; authorizes specified entities to disclose exempt information to certain entities; requires specified entities to disclose exempt information in certain circumstances; & extends scheduled repeal of exemption.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDLocal public schools and district boards can now keep their classroom tests and answer keys secret from the public, a protection previously limited to state-level testing agencies.
The State Board of Education and Board of Governors must create rules for how long to keep these confidential test files before destroying them.
Schools and colleges are required to share these secret test materials with state education boards when requested, but they are not required to share them with the public.
The law's automatic expiration date is pushed back from 2026 to 2031, keeping the secrecy rules in place for five more years unless the legislature acts.
AIBroadens the exemption from public records laws to cover assessment instruments held by a wider range of educational entities, including local schools and boards.
AIRequires local schools and institutions to share confidential assessment data with state oversight boards upon request, creating a new mandatory reporting duty.
AIMandates that state boards adopt specific rules for how long to keep and how to dispose of confidential assessment records.
AIDelays the automatic expiration of the confidentiality exemption by five years, extending the period during which these records are shielded from public access.