SB 261 — Requiring video cameras in certain special education classrooms

(1) The parent or legal guardian of a student who is assigned to the self-contained classroom;

(2) The county board;

and (3) The school employee(s) who is assigned to work with one or more students in the self-contained classroom.

(g)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, a public school shall retain video recorded from a camera placed under this section for at least three months after the date the video was recorded, subject to the following:

(A) If the minimum three-month period overlaps the summer break occurring between the last day of one instructional term and the first day of the next instructional term, the minimum three-month period shall be extended by the number of days occurring between the two instructional terms;

(B) For any school-based camera system that is installed or replaced after April 1, 2022, the public school shall retain video recorded from a camera for at least 365 days after the date the video was recorded and no extension of this time period during the summer break is required.

(2) If a person requests to view a recording under subsection (k) or subsection (l) of this section, the public school shall retain the recording from the date of the request until:

(A)   The earlier of the person viewing the recording or 60 days after the person who requested the video was notified by the public school that the video is ready to be viewed;

and (B) Any investigation and any administrative or legal proceedings that result from the recording have been completed, including, without limitation, the exhaustion of all appeals.

(3) In no event may the recording be deleted or otherwise made unretrievable before the time period set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection elapses.

(h) This section does not:

(1) Waive any immunity from liability of a public school district or employee of a public school district;

(2) Create any liability for a cause of action against a public school or school district or employee of a public school or school district;

or (3) Require the principal or other designated school administrator to view the video recording absent an authorized request pursuant to this code section or suspicion of an incident except as otherwise provided in subsection (j) of this section.

(i) A public school or school district shall not use video recorded under this section for:

(1) Teacher evaluations;

or (2) Any purpose other than the promotion and protection of the health, wellbeing, and safety of students receiving special education and related services in a self-contained classroom.

(j) Except as provided under subsections (k) and (l) of this section, a video recording made under this section is confidential and shall not be released or viewed by anyone except the school principal, other school administration designee, or county designee if the school principal or other school administration designee is unable to view the video pursuant to this subsection.

The school principal, other school administration designee, or county designee shall view no less than 15 minutes of the video of each self-contained classroom at the school no less than every days.

The state board shall include in its rule authorized by this section requirements for documentation of compliance with the video viewing requirements of this subsection.

(k) Within seven days of receiving a request, a public school or school district shall allow viewing of a video recording by:

(1) A public school or school district employee who is involved in an alleged incident that is documented by the video recording and has been reported to the public school or school district;

(2) A parent or legal guardian of a student who is involved in an alleged incident that is documented by the video recording and has been reported to the public school or school district;

or (3) An employee of a public school or school district as part of an investigation into an alleged incident that is documented by the video recording and has been reported to the public school or school district.

(l) Within seven days of receiving a request, a public school or school district shall allow viewing of a video recording by and comply with all subsequent requests for viewing or release of the video recording by:

(1) A law-enforcement officer or employee of the Department of Health and Human Resources, as part of an investigation into an alleged incident that is documented by the video recording and has been reported to the agency:

Provided, That if a release of the video recording is requested pursuant to this subdivision, the agency receiving a copy of the video recording shall maintain strict confidentiality of the video and not further release the video without authorization from the public school district through its superintendent;

or (2) A judge, counsel, or other legal entity that is charged with deciding or representing either the school board, students, or employees in any matters related to legal issues arising from an incident:

Provided, That the video may only be released pursuant to an appropriate protective order or under seal.

(m) If an incident is discovered while initially viewing camera footage that requires a report to be made under §49-2-803 of this code, that report shall be made by the viewer pursuant to that section within 24 hours of viewing the incident.

(n) When a video is under review as part of the investigation of an alleged incident, and the video reveals a student violating a disciplinary code or rule of the school, which violation is not related to the alleged incident for which the review is occurring, and which violation is not already the subject of a disciplinary action against the student, the student is not subject to disciplinary action by the school for such unrelated violation unless it reveals a separate incident as described in §18-20-11(b)(1) of this code.

(o) It is not a violation of subsection (j) of this section if a contractor or other employee of a public school or school district incidentally views a video recording under this section if the contractor or employee of a public school or school district is performing job duties related to the:

(1) Installation, operation, or maintenance of video equipment;

or (2) Retention of video recordings.

(p) This section applies solely to cameras installed pursuant to this code section and does not limit the access of a student’s parent or legal guardian to a video recording viewable under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C.

§1232g, or any other law.

(q) A public school or school district shall:

(1) Take necessary precautions to conceal the identity of a student who appears in a video recording but is not involved in the alleged incident documented by the video recording for which the public school allows viewing under subsection (j) of this section, including, without limitation, blurring the face of the uninvolved student;

and (2) Provide procedures to protect the confidentiality of student records contained in a video recording in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C.

§1232g, or any other law.

(r) (1) Any aggrieved person may appeal to the State Board of Education an action by a public school or school district that the person believes to be in violation of this section.

(2) The state board shall grant a hearing on an appeal under this subsection within 45 days of receiving the appeal.

(s) (1) A public school or school district may use funds distributed from the Safe Schools Fund created in §18-5-48 of this code or any other available funds to meet the requirements of this section.

(2) A public school or school district may accept gifts, grants, or donations to meet the requirements of this section.

(t) The state board may promulgate a rule in accordance with §29A-3B-1 et seq.

of this code to clarify the requirements of this section and address any unforeseen issues that might arise relating to the implementation of the requirements of this section.

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