83R29904 E

By: Patrick S.B. No. 1380

(Howard)

Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1380: No.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the placement of video cameras in self-contained classrooms providing special education services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 26.009, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) An employee of a school district is not required to obtain the consent of a child's parent before the employee may make a videotape of a child or authorize the recording of a child's voice if the videotape or voice recording is to be used only for:

(1) purposes of safety, including the maintenance of order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school buses;

(2) a purpose related to a cocurricular or extracurricular activity;

(3) a purpose related to regular classroom instruction; [or]

(4) media coverage of the school; or

(5) a purpose related to the promotion of student safety under Section 29.022.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 29.022 to read as follows:

Sec. 29.022. VIDEO SURVEILLANCE OF CLASSROOMS. (a) In order to promote student safety upon request by a parent, trustee, or staff member, a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall provide equipment, including a video camera, to each school in the district or each charter school campus in which a student receiving special education services in a self-contained classroom is enrolled. Each school or campus that receives equipment shall place the video camera in a self-contained classroom in which the only students in regular attendance:

(1) are eligible to take an alternative assessment instrument under Section 39.023(b) or would be eligible to take an alternative assessment instrument under Section 39.023(b) if the students were enrolled in a grade level for which an assessment instrument required under Section 39.023 is administered; and

(2) are nonverbal or have a limited ability to communicate.

(b) Cameras placed under this section must be capable of covering all areas of the classroom, except that a bathroom or any area in the classroom in which a student's clothes are changed may not be monitored.

(c) Before a school or campus places a video camera in a classroom under this section, the school or campus shall provide written notice of the placement to the parents of a student receiving special education services in the self-contained classroom. For purposes related to this section, but subject to Subsection (c-1), parental consent is not required.

(c-1) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not place a video camera in the classroom of a student whose parent sends to the district or school a written objection to the placement of a camera not later than the 30th day after the date on which the district or school sends the notice required under Subsection (c).

(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school shall retain video recorded from a camera placed under this section for at least six months after the date the video was recorded.

(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any person for use in placing video cameras in classrooms under this section.

(f) This section does not:

(1) waive any immunity from liability of a school district or open-enrollment charter school, or of district or school officers or employees; or

(2) create any liability for a cause of action against a school district or open-enrollment charter school or against district or school officers or employees.

(g) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not allow regular or continual monitoring of video recorded under this section.

(h) A video recording of a student made according to this section is confidential and may not be released or viewed except by a school nurse or human resources staff member designated by the board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school in response to a complaint or an investigation of district or school personnel or in accordance with this subsection. If the person viewing the video determines that a recording documents a violation of district or school policy, the person may allow access to the recording to appropriate legal and human resources personnel. A recording determined to document a violation of district or school policy may be used as part of a disciplinary action against district or school personnel and may be released at the request of the student's parent or guardian in a legal proceeding. This subsection does not limit the access of a student's parent to a record regarding the student under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g) or other law.

SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.