Honorable Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor, Senate
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB507 by Lucio (Relating to the placement and use of video cameras in self-contained classrooms providing special education services.), As Passed 2nd House
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require school districts and charter schools, on the request of a parent, board trustee, or staff member, to provide equipment including video cameras in special education settings in which certain students received special services. Each campus that received equipment would be required to place, operate, and maintain the video camera in a special education setting in which the majority of students in regular attendance were provided special education and related services; and were assigned to a special education setting for at least 50 percent of the instructional day. Cameras must record audio and be capable of covering all areas of the classroom with the exception of bathrooms or areas in which a student's clothes were changed.
The bill would require school districts and charter schools to provide parents and staff with written notice that video monitoring cameras were to be installed prior to installation, but would not require the district to secure parental consent. The bill would prohibit a district or charter school from placing a camera in the classroom of a student whose parent had sent a written objection to the district or charter school within 30 days of notification.
The bill would require a school district or charter school to keep the recorded video for at least three months after it was recorded, and would prohibit regular or continual monitoring of video recorded under this section by a district or charter school.
A school district or charter school would be allowed to solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations to use for placing video cameras in classrooms.
The bill would provide that if the commissioner determined that the amount appropriated for the Foundation School Program (FSP) exceeded the amount that districts were entitled to under Texas Education Code, Chapter 42, the commissioner would be required to establish a grant program by rule to award grants for the purchase and reimbursement of video equipment used to surveil special education settings.
The bill would require the Commissioner of Education to adopt rules to implement the provisions of the bill.
The bill would apply beginning with the 2017 - 2018 school year.
No significant fiscal impact is estimated for the Texas Education Agency to comply with the provisions of the bill.
Local Government Impact
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is not able to report the number of special education settings that are used solely for the students described by the bill. However, there are approximately 86,425 students with disabilities being served in self-contained settings in fiscal year 2014. Assuming a request was received for camera installation at each applicable campus and that at least one camera was required for every five students, a minimum of 17,285 cameras would be required to be made available for installation statewide. The estimated minimum cost to purchase an inexpensive camera with limited-quality video or audio is $150 per camera, or $2.6 million total. There would be additional costs for installation and maintenance of the cameras.
There would be additional costs for equipment to store the video and keep it secure as well. Districts could also incur costs to purchase masking software in case video became subject to public information requests.
Actual costs would vary depending on whether a request for camera installation was received, how many special education settings were required to be monitored, how many students met the bill's criteria, the number of cameras to be purchased, and whether schools chose to install and maintain the cameras or outsource the installation and maintenance. Local costs would be decreased to the extent that any excess FSP funds are used to reimburse districts for qualifying expenses.
Source Agencies:
701 Central Education Agency, 530 Family and Protective Services, Department of