HB 1505 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to video cameras in public school 2
classrooms; amending s. 1003.574, F.S.; deleting 3
references to the Video Cameras in Public School 4
Classrooms Pilot Program; deleting an obsolete 5
definition; requiring a district school board to vote 6
to establish a policy to provide video cameras in 7
self-contained classrooms upon the request of a 8
parent; providing an effective date. 9
10
Be It Enacted by the Leg islature of the State of Florida: 11
12
Section 1. Section 1003.574, Florida Statutes, is amended 13
to read: 14
1003.574 Video cameras in public school classrooms ; pilot 15
program.—Beginning with the 2021 -2022 school year, the Video 16
Cameras in Public School Clas srooms Pilot Program is created for 17
a period of 3 school years. 18
(1) As used in this section, the term: 19
(a) "Incident" means an event, a circumstance, an act, or 20
an omission that results in the abuse or neglect of a student 21
by: 22
1. An employee of a pub lic school or school district; or 23
2. Another student. 24
(b) "School district" means the Broward County Public 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Schools. 26
(b)(c) "Self-contained classroom" means a classroom at a 27
public school in which a majority of the students in regular 28
attendance are provided special education services and are 29
assigned to one or more such classrooms for at least 50 percent 30
of the instructional day. 31
(2)(a) Each district's school board shall vote to 32
establish a policy to provide video cameras in self -contained 33
classrooms if requested by a parent under paragraph (b). 34
(b)(a) If a district school board votes to implement a 35
policy to provide cameras in self -contained classrooms, the A 36
school district shall provide a video camera to any school with 37
a self-contained classroom upon the written request of a parent 38
of a student in the classroom. 39
(c)(b) Within 30 days after receipt of the request from a 40
parent, a video camera must shall be operational in each self -41
contained classroom in which the parent's student is in regula r 42
attendance for the remainder of the school year, unless the 43
parent withdraws his or her request in writing. 44
(3) If the student who is the subject of the initial 45
request is no longer in attendance in the classroom and a school 46
discontinues operation of a video camera during a school year, 47
no later than the 5th school day before the date the operation 48
of the video camera is discontinued, the school must notify the 49
parents of each student in regular attendance in the classroom 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
that operation of the video c amera will cease unless the 51
continued use of the camera is requested by a parent. No later 52
than the 10th school day before the end of each school year, the 53
school must notify the parents of each student in regular 54
attendance in the classroom that operation of the video camera 55
will not continue during the following school year unless a 56
written request is submitted by a parent for the next school 57
year. 58
(4)(a) A video camera placed in a self -contained classroom 59
must be capable of all of the following: 60
1. Monitoring all areas of the self -contained classroom, 61
including, without limitation, any room attached to the self -62
contained classroom which is used for other purposes. 63
2. Recording audio from all areas of the self -contained 64
classroom, including, without limitation, any room attached to 65
the self-contained classroom which is used for other purposes. 66
(b) A video camera placed in a self -contained classroom 67
may not monitor a restroom or any other area in the self -68
contained classroom where a student changes his or her clothes, 69
except for the entryway, exitway, or hallway outside a restroom 70
or other area where a student changes his or her clothes because 71
of the layout of the self -contained classroom. 72
(c) A video camera placed in a self -contained classroom is 73
not required to be in operation when students are not present in 74
the self-contained classroom. 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(d) If there is an interruption in the operation of the 76
video camera for any reason, an explanation must be submitted in 77
writing to the school principal and t he district school board 78
which explains the reason for and duration of the interruption. 79
The written explanation must be maintained at the district 80
school board office for at least 1 year. 81
(5) Before a school initially places a video camera in a 82
self-contained classroom pursuant to this section, the school 83
shall provide written notice of the placement of such video 84
camera to all of the following: 85
(a) The parent of each student who is assigned to the 86
self-contained classroom. 87
(b) Each student who is as signed to the self-contained 88
classroom. 89
(c) The school district. 90
(d) Each school employee who is assigned to work with one 91
or more students in the self -contained classroom. 92
(6) A school shall: 93
(a) Retain video recorded from a video camera placed 94
pursuant to this section for at least 3 months after the date 95
the video was recorded, after which the recording must shall be 96
deleted or otherwise made irretrievable unretrievable; or 97
(b) Retain the recording until the conclusion of any 98
investigation or any administrative or legal proceedings that 99
result from the recording have been completed, including, 100
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without limitation, the exhaustion of all appeals. 101
(7) A school or school district may not: 102
(a) Allow regular, continuous, or continual monitoring of 103
video recorded under this section; or 104
(b) Use video recorded under this section for teacher 105
evaluations or any purpose other than for ensuring the health, 106
safety, and well-being of students receiving special education 107
services in a self-contained classroom. 108
(8) The principal of the school is the custodian of a 109
video camera operated pursuant to this section, all recordings 110
generated by that video camera, and access to such recordings. 111
(a) The release or viewing of any video recording under 112
this section must comply with s. 1002.22. 113
(b) A school or school district shall: 114
1. Conceal the identity of any student who appears in a 115
video recording, but is not involved in the alleged incident 116
documented by the video recording, which the school allows to be 117
viewed under subsection (9), including, without limitation, 118
blurring the face of the uninvolved student. 119
2. Protect the confidentiality of all student records 120
contained in a video recording in accordance with s. 1002.22. 121
(9)(a) Within 7 days after receiv ing a request to view a 122
video recording, a school or school district shall allow the 123
following individuals to view a video recording made under this 124
section: 125
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1. A school or school district employee who is involved in 126
an alleged incident that is documente d by the video recording as 127
part of the investigative process; 128
2. A parent of a student who is involved in an alleged 129
incident that is documented by the video recording and has been 130
reported to the school or school district; 131
3. A school or school distr ict employee as part of an 132
investigation into an alleged incident that is documented by the 133
video recording and has been reported to the school or school 134
district; 135
4. A law enforcement officer as part of an investigation 136
into an alleged incident that is documented by the video 137
recording and has been reported to the law enforcement agency; 138
or 139
5. The Department of Children and Families as part of a 140
child abuse or neglect investigation. 141
(b) A person who requests to view a recording must shall 142
make himself or herself available for viewing the recording 143
within 30 days after being notified by the school or school 144
district that the person's request has been granted. 145
(c) A person who views the recording and suspects that 146
child abuse has occurred must report the suspected child abuse 147
to the Department of Children and Families. 148
(10)(a) Any individual may appeal to the State Board of 149
Education an action by a school or school district which the 150
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individual alleges to be in violation of this section. 151
(b) The state board shall grant a hearing on an appeal 152
under this subsection within 45 days after receiving the appeal. 153
(11) A school or school district does not violate 154
subsection (8) if a contractor or other employee of the school 155
or school district incidentally views a video recording made 156
under this section in connection with the performance of his or 157
her duties related to either of the following: 158
(a) The installation, operation, or maintenance of video 159
equipment; or 160
(b) The retention of video recordings. 161
(12) This section does not: 162
(a) Limit the access of the parent of a student, under the 163
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. s. 164
1232g, or any other law, to a video recording regarding his or 165
her student. 166
(b) Waive any immunity f rom liability of a school district 167
or an employee of a school district. 168
(c) Create any liability for a cause of action against a 169
school or school district or an employee of a school or school 170
district carrying out the duties and responsibilities required 171
by this section. 172
(d) Apply to self-contained classrooms in which the only 173
students receiving special education services are those who have 174
been deemed gifted. 175
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(13) The department shall collect information relating to 176
the installation and maintenance o f video cameras under this 177
section. 178
(14) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to 179
implement this section. 180
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 181