On Feb. 19, House Bill 1 passed the Virginia Senate with a 38-2 vote. The bill will now go back to the House for approval of changes made by the Senate.
Virginia governor signs two bills which limit access to student records
From the SPLC Legal Network: A new FOI obstacle for journalists who need access to student testing data
A recent opinion by the Virginia Supreme Court illustrates just how closely requests for teacher-specific information can be scrutinized, and drives home the importance of carefully considering an open-records request before making it.
NEWS RELEASE: Student Press Law Center debuts new online reference resource to help advocates enforce open-records laws
A library of state-by-state reference materials created with the help of SPLC attorney volunteers can help simplify the task of understanding and enforcing open-records laws, a frequent source of tension between journalists and educational institutions.
Can Hugh redact personal phone numbers from a state record? It's a close call.
The University of Mississippi is withholding portions of now-departed head football coach Hugh Freeze's cellphone records on the grounds that the redacted calls are "personal." But there is no blanket exemption for "personal information" in the state's Public Records Act.
As colleges push employees to retire early, student journalists find documents elusive
Offering early-retirement buyout packages to high-paid senior employees is an increasingly common way for cash-strapped colleges to cut costs. But students trying to cover those buyouts have met with stiff (and legally questionable) resistance to disclosure of who qualifies for the payouts.
Illinois Supreme Court rules high school association not subject to open records laws
The Illinois Supreme Court upheld lower courts’ rulings that a non-profit school athletic organization is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.
Court orders University of North Carolina to hand over sexual assault records to Tar Heel
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled University of North Carolina must hand over student, faculty, and staff rape, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct records requested by the university's student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.
Access delayed – still waiting
An SPLC investigation reveals how Texas' private institutions are using a provision of the state's open records law to delay the release of police reports.
University of Kentucky faculty and Bluegrass SPJ come out swinging in statements to UK President Capilouto
Since the University of Kentucky filed suit against its independent student newspaper last month, university President Eli Capilouto and the school’s administration have faced local and national criticism for making such an unusually aggressive move against their own students.
The ultimate student discount: No more paying for FOIA search-and-retrieval
A University of Virginia graduate student prevailed in her challenge to paying for the Defense Department to search for public records, convincing a federal appeals court that she qualifies for FOIA's discounted "educational institution" rate.