Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1033 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R6633 JSL-F
2	2	By: Leach H.B. No. 1033
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the placement of video cameras in self-contained
8	8	classrooms providing special education services.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 26.009(b), Education Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(b) An employee of a school district is not required to
13	13	obtain the consent of a child's parent before the employee may make
14	14	a videotape of a child or authorize the recording of a child's voice
15	15	if the videotape or voice recording is to be used only for:
16	16	(1) purposes of safety, including the maintenance of
17	17	order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school
18	18	buses;
19	19	(2) a purpose related to a cocurricular or
20	20	extracurricular activity;
21	21	(3) a purpose related to regular classroom
22	22	instruction; [or]
23	23	(4) media coverage of the school; or
24	24	(5) a purpose related to the promotion of student
25	25	safety under Section 29.022.
26	26	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
27	27	amended by adding Section 29.022 to read as follows:
28	28	Sec. 29.022. VIDEO SURVEILLANCE OF CLASSROOMS. (a) In
29	29	order to promote student safety on request by a parent, trustee, or
30	30	staff member, a school district or open-enrollment charter school
31	31	shall provide equipment, including a video camera, to each school
32	32	in the district or each charter school campus in which a student
33	33	receiving special education services in a self-contained classroom
34	34	is enrolled. Each school or campus that receives equipment shall
35	35	place the video camera in a self-contained classroom in which the
36	36	only students in regular attendance:
37	37	(1) are eligible to take an alternative assessment
38	38	instrument under Section 39.023(b) or would be eligible to take an
39	39	alternative assessment instrument under Section 39.023(b) if the
40	40	students were enrolled in a grade level for which an assessment
41	41	instrument required under Section 39.023 is administered; and
42	42	(2) are nonverbal or have a limited ability to
43	43	communicate.
44	44	(b) Video cameras placed under this section must be capable
45	45	of covering all areas of the classroom, except that a bathroom or
46	46	any area in the classroom in which a student's clothes are changed
47	47	may not be monitored.
48	48	(c) Before a school or campus places a video camera in a
49	49	classroom under this section, the school or campus shall provide
50	50	written notice of the placement to the parents of a student
51	51	receiving special education services in the classroom. For
52	52	purposes related to this section, but subject to Subsection (d),
53	53	parental consent is not required.
54	54	(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
55	55	not place a video camera in the classroom of a student whose parent
56	56	sends to the district or school a written objection to the placement
57	57	of a camera not later than the 30th day after the date on which the
58	58	district or school sends the notice required under Subsection (c).
59	59	(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
60	60	shall retain video recorded from a camera placed under this section
61	61	for at least six months after the date the video was recorded.
62	62	(f) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
63	63	solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from any person for
64	64	use in placing video cameras in classrooms under this section.
65	65	(g) This section does not:
66	66	(1) waive any immunity from liability of a school
67	67	district or open-enrollment charter school, or of district or
68	68	school officers or employees; or
69	69	(2) create any liability for a cause of action against
70	70	a school district or open-enrollment charter school or against
71	71	district or school officers or employees.
72	72	(h) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
73	73	not allow regular or continual monitoring of video recorded under
74	74	this section.
75	75	(i) A video recording of a student made according to this
76	76	section is confidential and may not be released or viewed except by
77	77	a school nurse or human resources staff member designated by the
78	78	board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
79	79	open-enrollment charter school in response to a complaint or an
80	80	investigation of district or school personnel or in accordance with
81	81	this subsection. If the person viewing the video determines that a
82	82	recording documents a violation of district or school policy, the
83	83	person may allow access to the recording to appropriate legal and
84	84	human resources personnel. A recording determined to document a
85	85	violation of district or school policy may be used as part of a
86	86	disciplinary action against district or school personnel and may be
87	87	released at the request of the student's parent or guardian in a
88	88	legal proceeding. This subsection does not limit the access of a
89	89	student's parent to a record regarding the student under the Family
90	90	Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
91	91	1232g) or other law.
92	92	SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
93	93	school year.
94	94	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
95	95	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
96	96	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
97	97	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
98	98	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.