SLS 23RS-2284 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 131
BY SENATOR BARROW
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Requests the Louisiana Department of Education and the
State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide specific information in a
report to the Senate committees on finance and education relative to cameras in certain
classrooms.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and the State Board of
3 Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to provide specific information in a
4 report to the Senate committees on finance and education relative to the installation
5 and operation of cameras in certain classrooms.
6 WHEREAS, Act No. 456 of the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature required the
7 governing authority of each public school, including charter schools, to adopt policies
8 relative to the installation and operation of cameras that record both video and audio in
9 classrooms, upon the written request of a student's parent or legal guardian; and
10 WHEREAS, Act No. 456 defined "classroom" as a self-contained classroom or other
11 special education setting in which a majority of students in regular attendance are provided
12 special education and related services and are assigned to one or more self-contained
13 classrooms or other special education settings for at least fifty percent of the instructional
14 day and for which a parent or legal guardian has requested a camera to be installed; and
15 WHEREAS, Act No. 588 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Legislature required the
16 governing authority of each public school, including charter schools, to adopt the policies
17 by December 31, 2022, or within sixty days of the receipt of the funding for the installation
18 of cameras, whichever occurred first; and
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SLS 23RS-2284 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, Act No. 588 required the governing authority of each public school,
2 including charter schools, to submit a copy of the polices, which must include provisions on
3 how a parent or legal guardian may request the installation and operation of cameras in the
4 child's classroom, to the Department of Education by January 15, 2023; and
5 WHEREAS, Act No. 588 also mandated that upon receipt of funding the governing
6 authority of each public school, including charter schools, must install and operate the
7 cameras; and
8 WHEREAS, Act No. 199 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Legislature
9 appropriated eight million dollars payable out of the state general fund by statutory
10 dedications out of the Special Education Classroom Monitoring Fund to the Non-Federal
11 Support Program for cameras in the special education classrooms as provided in Act 456 of
12 the 2021 Regular Session; and
13 WHEREAS, on May 22, 2023, at the meeting of the Senate Committee on Finance,
14 public testimony was given stating that, "The cameras were not being installed and operating
15 as the law required" and members of the committee questioned a representative of
16 LDOE/BESE regarding the status of the eight million dollars that was appropriated for the
17 classroom cameras and whether the funding is being used in accordance with the
18 appropriation's intended purpose; and
19 WHEREAS, LDOE/ BESE's representative responded by advising the members that
20 a formula was used to allocate the eight million dollars that was appropriated directly to the
21 school systems and the charter schools, and that the money can be used only for the cameras;
22 and
23 WHEREAS, the representative advised that the dollars were disbursed very quickly
24 to the school systems and charter schools by either August or September of 2022 and that
25 LDOE/BESE would provide the committee with a one-page report relative to the amount of
26 funding that was allocated to each district and charter school; and
27 WHEREAS, the representative also advised that LDOE has requested eight hundred
28 thousand dollars in the 2023-2024 fiscal budget for continued operating costs of the cameras;
29 and
30 WHEREAS, a member requested that the representative of LDOE/BESE provide the
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SLS 23RS-2284 ORIGINAL
1 one page information by May 22, 2023, to no avail.
2 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
3 does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and the State
4 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to provide specific information in
5 a report to the Senate committees on finance and education relative to the installation and
6 operation of cameras in certain classrooms.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall address all of the following:
8 (1) Whether LDOE received the school systems', including charter schools, adopted
9 polices as mandated by R.S. 17:1948(A)(2), and if so:
10 (a) The name of each school system and the date the system's policy was received.
11 (2) Whether school systems, including charter schools, received an allocation of
12 funds to install and operate cameras in a classroom as defined in R.S. 17:1948(B), and if so:
13 (a) The names of the school systems, the amount of funding each received, and the
14 dates the funds were disbursed.
15 (3)(a) The number of school systems, including charter schools, that have installed
16 and are operating cameras upon receiving the allocated funds as mandated by R.S.
17 17:1948(E)(2) as of May 22, 2023.
18 (b) The name of each school system, including charter schools, the parish where the
19 school or system is located, and the date of installation and operation of the cameras.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Education and the
21 State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall submit the report requested by
22 this Resolution no later than June 1, 2023, to the Senate committees on finance and
23 education.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report requested by this Resolution shall be
25 submitted annually by February first beginning in 2024.
26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
27 state Superintendent of Education and the president of the State Board of Elementary and
28 Secondary Education.
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SLS 23RS-2284 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Michael Bell.
DIGEST
SR 131 Original 2023 Regular Session Barrow
Requests the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and the State Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education (BESE) to provide specific information in a report to the Senate
committees on finance and education relative to the installation and operation of cameras in
certain classrooms.
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