Association recommends guidelines for video at schools
Posted on Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Many school buildings and buses have surveillance cameras, but a written policy on how to handle the video footage might be lacking.
This summer, the Arkansas School Board Association developed a model policy that suggests schools treat surveillance footage of student incidents as part of the student’s educational record. By treating footage as an educational record, who could view it would be more restricted because of student privacy laws.
Association Staff Attorney Kristen Gould said she thought the policy was needed as more and more schools have cameras and requests to review the footage sometimes come up.
The Fayetteville School District does not yet have a formal policy on video surveillance, but it does have some cameras at all school buildings.
The district installed cameras this summer at all school buildings that did not previously use them, said Fred Turrentine, director of school plant services.
Superintendent Bobby New said a formal policy on surveillance and viewing the footage is something that probably needed to be addressed.
“ Surveillance cameras are becoming part of the (school ) landscape, ” he said.
The association’s model policy provides a guide for school districts to follow as they create their own policies.
Some districts adopt the model policy verbatim, Gould said.
The model policy is accompanied by a series of footnotes on how footage might be viewed following a student discipline matter. Incidents could be reviewed by law enforcement officials.
The footnotes state, for example, that in the case of a fight between students, the right to view footage of the incident would be limited to the parents of the students involved in the fight. Parents of students who observed the incident as bystanders wouldn’t necessarily be allowed to view the footage.
The footnotes also state that if a tape of such incidents was to be given to a parent or lawyer, which would go beyond arranging a viewing, then the school would be obliged to obscure the faces of “ the ‘ involved’ students other than that of the parent’s student” without permission from the other students’ parents.
The Elkins School District was one of the first districts to consider a new video surveillance policy based on the model policy. Superintendent Robert Allen presented an initial draft of a policy for the school board to consider at its June meeting. It was adopted at a later meeting.
Farmington Superintendent Ron Wright said his district has also adopted the association’s recommended policy.
“ There really wasn’t any specific incident that prompted it, ” Allen said. “ It’s just that (the association ) had a policy they were recommending online. ”
The Elkins policy set a timeline of two weeks for preserving footage.
The model policy does not outline a specific time frame for keeping videos, leaving that decision to the local district.
“ You may recycle your videos on whatever schedule works for your district, but you may not destroy any recordings as long as there is an outstanding request to inspect and review them, ” it states.
Greenland Schools Superintendent Ron Brawner said his district doesn’t have a formal policy on video surveillance. The general practice has been to treat footage as a student record, he said.
“ When we do view the videos, it’s our resource officer and the principal, ” he said. “ If it doesn’t involve (the parents’ ) child, they won’t look at it. ”
Fayetteville High School used cameras to evaluate incidents, but the only people who asked to view the footage were the parties involved, said Randy Willison, a Fayetteville associate superintendent and former Fayetteville High School principal.
The association’s model policy also addresses where cameras may be placed and calls for districts to post signs stating they might be used in buildings and vehicles.
It states schools may use cameras in areas where events occur in plain view.
The main places they wouldn’t be allowed are in areas where students could have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a restroom, Gould said.
“ You can put a camera any place you can put a set of eyes, ” she said.
Turrentine said signs notifying Fayetteville patrons about cameras had been left to the individual building principal’s discretion, but officials are in the process of developing a common sign that would be used at all district schools.
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