Bill Text: TX SB507 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the placement and use of video cameras in self-contained classrooms or other settings providing special education services.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Effective immediately [SB507 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB507-Enrolled.html

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S.B. No. 507

AN ACT
relating to the placement and use of video cameras in
self-contained classrooms or other settings 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 SPECIAL EDUCATION
SETTINGS. (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 who receives special education
services in a self-contained classroom or other special education
setting is enrolled. Each school or campus that receives equipment
shall place, operate, and maintain one or more video cameras in each
self-contained classroom or other special education setting in
which a majority of the students in regular attendance are:
(1) provided special education and related services;
and
(2) assigned to a self-contained classroom or other
special education setting for at least 50 percent of the
instructional day.
(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 camera in the
classroom or setting as long as the classroom or setting continues
to satisfy the requirements under Subsection (a).
(c) Video cameras placed under this section must be capable
of:
(1) covering all areas of the classroom or other
special education setting, except that the inside of a bathroom or
any area in the classroom or setting in which a student's clothes
are changed may not be visually monitored; and
(2) recording audio from all areas of the classroom or
other special education setting.
(d) Before a school or campus places a video 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 a student
receiving special education services in the classroom or setting.
(e) 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.
(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 or other special
education settings 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 or other special education setting.
(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 (j). A school district or
open-enrollment charter school shall release a recording for
viewing by:
(1) a school district employee or a parent or guardian
of a student who is involved in an incident documented by the
recording for which a complaint has been reported to the district,
on request of the employee, parent, or guardian, respectively;
(2) appropriate Department of Family and Protective
Services personnel as part of an investigation under Section
261.406, Family Code;
(3) a peace officer, a school nurse, a district
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 complaint or an investigation of district or school personnel or a
complaint of abuse committed by a student; or
(4) appropriate agency or State Board for Educator
Certification personnel or agents as part of an investigation.
(j) If a person described by Subsection (i)(3) or (4) who
views the video recording believes that the recording 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)(2), (3), or
(4) who views the recording believes 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 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 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.
(k) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement and
administer this section, including rules regarding the special
education settings to which this section applies.
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.2528 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.2528. EXCESS FUNDS FOR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE OF
SPECIAL EDUCATION SETTINGS. (a) Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, if the commissioner determines that the amount
appropriated for the purposes of the Foundation School Program
exceeds the amount to which school districts are entitled under
this chapter, the commissioner by rule shall establish a grant
program through which excess funds are awarded as grants for the
purchase of video equipment, or for the reimbursement of costs for
previously purchased video equipment, used for monitoring special
education classrooms or other special education settings required
under Section 29.022.
(b) In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner
shall give highest priority to districts with maintenance and
operations tax rates at the greatest rates permitted by law. The
commissioner shall also give priority to:
(1) districts with maintenance and operations tax
rates at least equal to the state maximum compressed tax rate, as
defined by Section 42.101(a), and lowest amounts of maintenance and
operations tax revenue per weighted student; and
(2) districts with debt service tax rates near or
equal to the greatest rates permitted by law.
(c) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement and
administer this section.
SECTION 4. (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the
commissioner of education shall distribute grant funds in
accordance with Section 42.2528, Education Code, as added by this
Act, beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.
(b) The change in law made by Section 29.022, Education
Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2016-2017
school year.
SECTION 5. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 507 passed the Senate on
May 11, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 24, Nays 7;
May 28, 2015, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 29, 2015, House
granted request of the Senate; May 31, 2015, Senate adopted
Conference Committee Report by the following vote: Yeas 21,
Nays 10.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 507 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 132,
Nays 12, two present not voting; May 29, 2015, House granted
request of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
May 31, 2015, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0, three present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor