By: Lucio, Garcia	S.B. No. 507
	Menéndez

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the placement and use of video cameras in
	self-contained classrooms 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 CLASSROOMS. (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
	receiving special education services in a self-contained classroom
	is enrolled. Each school or campus that receives equipment shall
	place, operate, and maintain one or more video cameras in each
	self-contained classroom 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 for at
	least 50 percent of the instructional day.
	(b)  A school or campus that places a video camera in a
	classroom in accordance with Subsection (a) shall operate and
	maintain the camera in the classroom as long as the classroom
	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, except that a
	bathroom or any area in the classroom in which a student's clothes
	are changed may not be visually monitored; and
	(2)  recording audio from all areas of the classroom.
	(d)  Before a school or campus places a video camera in a
	classroom under this section, the school or campus shall provide
	written notice of the placement to the parents of a student
	receiving special education services in the classroom.
	(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 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.
	(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)  appropriate Department of Family and Protective
	Services personnel as part of an investigation under Section
	261.406, Family Code; or
	(2)  a peace officer, a school nurse, 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.
	(j)  If the person viewing the video recording determines
	that the recording documents a 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 the person viewing the recording
	determines that the recording documents a violation of district or
	school policy, the person may allow access to the recording to
	appropriate legal and human resources personnel. A recording
	determined to document a 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.
	SECTION 3.  (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 4.  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.