Bill Text: TX SB1398 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the placement and use of video cameras in certain self-contained classrooms or other settings providing special education services.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-12 - Effective immediately [SB1398 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SB1398-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1398 |
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relating to the placement and use of video cameras in certain | ||
self-contained classrooms or other settings providing special | ||
education services. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 29.022, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (i), and (j) and | ||
adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (c-1), (e-1), (i-1), (l), | ||
(m), (n), (o), (p), (q), (r), (s), (t), and (u) to read as follows: | ||
(a) In order to promote student safety, on receipt of a | ||
written request authorized under Subsection (a-1) [ |
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charter school shall provide equipment, including a video camera, | ||
to the [ |
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charter school campus or campuses specified in the request [ |
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provided by this subsection shall place, operate, and maintain one | ||
or more video cameras in [ |
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a majority of the students in regular attendance are[ |
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services[ |
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classrooms [ |
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provided that: | ||
(1) a school or campus that receives equipment as a | ||
result of the request by a parent or staff member is required to | ||
place equipment only in classrooms or settings in which the | ||
parent's child is in regular attendance or to which the staff member | ||
is assigned, as applicable; and | ||
(2) a school or campus that receives equipment as a | ||
result of the request by a board of trustees, governing body, | ||
principal, or assistant principal is required to place equipment | ||
only in classrooms or settings identified by the requestor, if the | ||
requestor limits the request to specific classrooms or settings | ||
subject to this subsection. | ||
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a): | ||
(1) a parent of a child who receives special education | ||
services in one or more self-contained classrooms or other special | ||
education settings may request in writing that equipment be | ||
provided to the school or campus at which the child receives those | ||
services; | ||
(2) a board of trustees or governing body may request | ||
in writing that equipment be provided to one or more specified | ||
schools or campuses at which one or more children receive special | ||
education services in self-contained classrooms or other special | ||
education settings; | ||
(3) the principal or assistant principal of a school | ||
or campus at which one or more children receive special education | ||
services in self-contained classrooms or other special education | ||
settings may request in writing that equipment be provided to the | ||
principal's or assistant principal's school or campus; and | ||
(4) a staff member assigned to work with one or more | ||
children receiving special education services in self-contained | ||
classrooms or other special education settings may request in | ||
writing that equipment be provided to the school or campus at which | ||
the staff member works. | ||
(a-2) Each school district or open-enrollment charter | ||
school shall designate an administrator at the primary | ||
administrative office of the district or school with responsibility | ||
for coordinating the provision of equipment to schools and campuses | ||
in compliance with this section. | ||
(a-3) A written request must be submitted and acted on as | ||
follows: | ||
(1) a parent, staff member, or assistant principal | ||
must submit a request to the principal or the principal's designee | ||
of the school or campus addressed in the request, and the principal | ||
or designee must provide a copy of the request to the administrator | ||
designated under Subsection (a-2); | ||
(2) a principal must submit a request by the principal | ||
to the administrator designated under Subsection (a-2); and | ||
(3) a board of trustees or governing body must submit a | ||
request to the administrator designated under Subsection (a-2), and | ||
the administrator must provide a copy of the request to the | ||
principal or the principal's designee of the school or campus | ||
addressed in the request. | ||
(b) A school or campus that places a video camera in a | ||
classroom or other special education setting in accordance with | ||
Subsection (a) shall operate and maintain the video camera in the | ||
classroom or setting, as long as the classroom or setting continues | ||
to satisfy the requirements under Subsection (a), for the remainder | ||
of the school year in which the school or campus received the | ||
request, unless the requestor withdraws the request in writing. If | ||
for any reason a school or campus will discontinue operation of a | ||
video camera during a school year, not later than the fifth school | ||
day before the date the operation of the video camera will be | ||
discontinued, the school or campus must notify the parents of each | ||
student in regular attendance in the classroom or setting that | ||
operation of the video camera will not continue unless requested by | ||
a person eligible to make a request under Subsection (a-1). Not | ||
later than the 10th school day before the end of each school year, | ||
the school or campus must notify the parents of each student in | ||
regular attendance in the classroom or setting that operation of | ||
the video camera will not continue during the following school year | ||
unless a person eligible to make a request for the next school year | ||
under Subsection (a-1) submits a new request. | ||
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1), video [ |
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cameras placed under this section must be capable of: | ||
(1) covering all areas of the classroom or other | ||
special education setting, including a room attached to the | ||
classroom or setting used for time-out [ |
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(2) recording audio from all areas of the classroom or | ||
other special education setting, including a room attached to the | ||
classroom or setting used for time-out. | ||
(c-1) The inside of a bathroom or any area in the classroom | ||
or other special education setting in which a student's clothes are | ||
changed may not be visually monitored, except for incidental | ||
coverage of a minor portion of a bathroom or changing area because | ||
of the layout of the classroom or setting. | ||
(d) Before a school or campus activates [ |
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camera in a classroom or other special education setting under this | ||
section, the school or campus shall provide written notice of the | ||
placement to all school or campus staff and to the parents of each | ||
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(e) Except as provided by Subsection (e-1), a [ |
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district or open-enrollment charter school shall retain video | ||
recorded from a video camera placed under this section for at least | ||
three [ |
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(e-1) If a person described by Subsection (i) requests to | ||
view a video recording from a video camera placed under this | ||
section, a school district or open-enrollment charter school must | ||
retain the recording from the date of receipt of the request until | ||
the person has viewed the recording and a determination has been | ||
made as to whether the recording documents an alleged incident. If | ||
the recording documents an alleged incident, the district or school | ||
shall retain the recording until the alleged incident has been | ||
resolved, including the exhaustion of all appeals. | ||
(i) A video recording of a student made according to this | ||
section is confidential and may not be released or viewed except as | ||
provided by this subsection or Subsection (i-1) or (j). A school | ||
district or open-enrollment charter school shall release a | ||
recording for viewing by: | ||
(1) an [ |
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is documented by the recording and [ |
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reported to the district or school, on request of the employee[ |
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(2) a parent of a student who is involved in an alleged | ||
incident that is documented by the recording and has been reported | ||
to the district or school, on request of the parent; | ||
(3) appropriate Department of Family and Protective | ||
Services personnel as part of an investigation under Section | ||
261.406, Family Code; | ||
(4) [ |
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or school administrator trained in de-escalation and restraint | ||
techniques as provided by commissioner rule, or a human resources | ||
staff member designated by the board of trustees of the school | ||
district or the governing body of the open-enrollment charter | ||
school in response to a report of an alleged incident [ |
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an investigation of district or school personnel or a report | ||
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(5) [ |
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Educator Certification personnel or agents as part of an | ||
investigation. | ||
(i-1) A contractor or employee performing job duties | ||
relating to the installation, operation, or maintenance of video | ||
equipment or the retention of video recordings who incidentally | ||
views a video recording is not in violation of Subsection (i). | ||
(j) If a person described by Subsection (i)(4) [ |
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(5) [ |
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documents a possible violation under Subchapter E, Chapter 261, | ||
Family Code, the person shall notify the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services for investigation in accordance with Section | ||
261.406, Family Code. If any person described by Subsection (i)(3) | ||
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that the recording documents a possible violation of district or | ||
school policy, the person may allow access to the recording to | ||
appropriate legal and human resources personnel. A recording | ||
believed to document a possible violation of district or school | ||
policy relating to the neglect or abuse of a student may be used as | ||
part of a disciplinary action against district or school personnel | ||
and shall be released at the request of the student's parent [ |
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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. | ||
(l) A school district or open-enrollment charter school | ||
policy relating to the placement, operation, or maintenance of | ||
video cameras under this section must: | ||
(1) include information on how a person may appeal an | ||
action by the district or school that the person believes to be in | ||
violation of this section or a policy adopted in accordance with | ||
this section, including the appeals process under Section 7.057; | ||
(2) require that the district or school provide a | ||
response to a request made under this section not later than the | ||
seventh school business day after receipt of the request by the | ||
person to whom it must be submitted under Subsection (a-3) that | ||
authorizes the request or states the reason for denying the | ||
request; | ||
(3) except as provided by Subdivision (5), require | ||
that a school or a campus begin operation of a video camera in | ||
compliance with this section not later than the 45th school | ||
business day, or the first school day after the 45th school business | ||
day if that day is not a school day, after the request is authorized | ||
unless the agency grants an extension of time; | ||
(4) permit the parent of a student whose admission, | ||
review, and dismissal committee has determined that the student's | ||
placement for the following school year will be in a classroom or | ||
other special education setting in which a video camera may be | ||
placed under this section to make a request for the video camera by | ||
the later of: | ||
(A) the date on which the current school year | ||
ends; or | ||
(B) the 10th school business day after the date | ||
of the placement determination by the admission, review, and | ||
dismissal committee; and | ||
(5) if a request is made by a parent in compliance with | ||
Subdivision (4), unless the agency grants an extension of time, | ||
require that a school or campus begin operation of a video camera in | ||
compliance with this section not later than the later of: | ||
(A) the 10th school day of the fall semester; or | ||
(B) the 45th school business day, or the first | ||
school day after the 45th school business day if that day is not a | ||
school day, after the date the request is made. | ||
(m) A school district, parent, staff member, or | ||
administrator may request an expedited review by the agency of the | ||
district's: | ||
(1) denial of a request made under this section; | ||
(2) request for an extension of time to begin | ||
operation of a video camera under Subsection (l)(3) or (5); or | ||
(3) determination to not release a video recording to | ||
a person described by Subsection (i). | ||
(n) If a school district, parent, staff member, or | ||
administrator requests an expedited review under Subsection (m), | ||
the agency shall notify all other interested parties of the | ||
request. | ||
(o) If an expedited review has been requested under | ||
Subsection (m), the agency shall issue a preliminary judgment as to | ||
whether the district is likely to prevail on the issue under a full | ||
review by the agency. If the agency determines that the district is | ||
not likely to prevail, the district must fully comply with this | ||
section notwithstanding an appeal of the agency's decision. The | ||
agency shall notify the requestor and the district, if the district | ||
is not the requestor, of the agency's determination. | ||
(p) The commissioner: | ||
(1) shall adopt rules relating to the expedited review | ||
process under Subsections (m), (n), and (o), including standards | ||
for making a determination under Subsection (o); and | ||
(2) may adopt rules relating to an expedited review | ||
process under Subsections (m), (n), and (o) for an open-enrollment | ||
charter school. | ||
(q) The agency shall collect data relating to requests made | ||
under this section and actions taken by a school district or | ||
open-enrollment charter school in response to a request, including | ||
the number of requests made, authorized, and denied. | ||
(r) A video recording under this section is a governmental | ||
record only for purposes of Section 37.10, Penal Code. | ||
(s) This section applies to the placement, operation, and | ||
maintenance of a video camera in a self-contained classroom or | ||
other special education setting during the regular school year and | ||
extended school year services. | ||
(t) A video camera placed under this section is not required | ||
to be in operation for the time during which students are not | ||
present in the classroom or other special education setting. | ||
(u) In this section: | ||
(1) "Parent" includes a guardian or other person | ||
standing in parental relation to a student. | ||
(2) "School business day" means a day that campus or | ||
school district administrative offices are open. | ||
(3) "Self-contained classroom" does not include a | ||
classroom that is a resource room instructional arrangement under | ||
Section 42.151. | ||
(4) "Staff member" means a teacher, related service | ||
provider, paraprofessional, counselor, or educational aide | ||
assigned to work in a self-contained classroom or other special | ||
education setting. | ||
(5) "Time-out" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
37.0021. | ||
SECTION 2. 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, 2017. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1398 passed the Senate on | ||
May 4, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the | ||
Senate concurred in House amendments on May 28, 2017, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1398 passed the House, with | ||
amendments, on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 146, | ||
Nays 0, two present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |