A collection of school districts has lost a lawsuit to try to keep legally privileged information from disclosure in the wake of a mass casualty event.
The districts brought the lawsuit to challenge a state law which requires districts to disclose information in an investigation of a mass casualty event, even if that information would otherwise be considered private.
The state is requiring districts to agree to waive their right to withhold the information, as a condition of receiving state funding for mental health support for students.
The districts argued the law is unconstitutional.
But a court of claims judge disagreed, saying the law “is coercive, but it does not coerce the relinquishment of a constitutional right in exchange for essential public funding.”
Judge Sima G. Patel wrote that districts that didn’t want to waive the right to withhold privileged information could simply refuse the extra funding for mental health support.
