84R186 JSL-D
 
  By: Lucio S.B. No. 507
 
 
 
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.  Section 26.009(b), 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 on 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 and maintain 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 as those terms are defined by the agency.
         (b)  Video cameras placed under this section must be capable
  of:
               (1)  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; and
               (2)  recording audio from all areas of the classroom
  covered as required by Subdivision (1).
         (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 classroom. For
  purposes related to this section, but subject to Subsection (d),
  parental consent is not required.
         (d)  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).
         (e)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  shall retain video recorded from a camera placed under this section
  for at least one year after the date the video was recorded.
         (f)  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.
         (g)  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.
         (h)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
  not:
               (1)  allow regular or continual monitoring of video
  recorded under this section; or
               (2)  use video recorded under this section for teacher
  evaluation or for any other purpose other than the promotion of
  safety of students receiving special education services in a
  self-contained classroom.
         (i)  A video recording of a student made according to this
  section is confidential and may not be released or viewed except by
  appropriate Department of Family and Protective Services personnel
  as part of an investigation under Section 261.406, Family Code.
  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 2016-2017
  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, 2015.