Ohio's top court is stepping into a tense fight in the Forest Hills Local School District, where parents and transparency advocates are squaring off against school officials over one very sensitive document: the plan for what staff should do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up on campus.
The Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether the suburban Cincinnati district can keep that ICE-response plan under wraps. The case has turned a local dispute about redactions and closed-door meetings into a statewide test of how much the public is allowed to know about school safety and immigration-enforcement policies.
Attorney Curt Hartman filed a lawsuit on Feb. 25 asking the court to force Forest Hills to turn over an unredacted version of its ICE-response plan, along with records tied to how school officials handled student walkouts. The suit says the Forest Hills board met in a closed executive session in February to discuss how it would respond if ICE arrived on a campus and argues those records qualify as public documents. Hartman contends the district has no lawful basis to withhold the information and calls the redactions an abuse of Ohio public-records laws. District officials, for their part, say the redactions are about keeping students and staff safe. The district was ordered to respond to the lawsuit by March 21, 2026, and the Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to take the case, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Forest Hills says this kind of planning is routine and is part of a broader safety playbook that involves coordination with local law enforcement, regular emergency drills and procedures intended to protect students while keeping operational details out of the wrong hands. The district's online safety guide highlights partnerships with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Anderson Township Fire and Rescue and other agencies, and emphasizes that officials aim to share accurate information once a situation is under control, according to the Forest Hills School District.
What the Suit Alleges
Hartman's complaint asks the high court to compel Forest Hills to release the full, unredacted ICE-response plan and any records documenting how administrators dealt with student protests tied to immigration-enforcement concerns. The filing argues that public interest in the district's policies and in its interactions with student protesters outweighs the safety rationale offered to justify blacked-out passages.
Why It Matters Locally
For families in the Cincinnati suburbs, the case hits close to home. It raises basic questions about how much a school district can keep behind closed doors when it comes to security protocols and immigration issues on campus. A ruling that backs Forest Hills could give districts more room to shield details of their safety and response plans. A ruling for Hartman could push school boards across Ohio toward greater disclosure, especially around how they respond to politically charged student demonstrations.
Next Steps
Forest Hills has until March 21, 2026 to file its answer to the lawsuit. After that, the Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether to schedule full oral arguments or decide the dispute based solely on written briefs. Either path will be watched closely by open-government advocates and by school districts that are trying to walk the line between campus security and public transparency.
Legal Angle
The fight sits squarely at the intersection of Ohio's public-records laws and the narrow safety exemptions that allow officials to redact or withhold information they say could put students or staff at risk. The Supreme Court's eventual ruling is expected to clarify how far those exemptions stretch when it comes to school safety plans and to records of how officials interact with student protesters.
