Relating to parental access to live video feeds of public school district classrooms and providing penalties

This bill relates to parental access to live video feeds of public school district classrooms and provides for penalties. The bill requires each public school district to install cameras in every classroom not designated for special education or physical education so that parents and guardians of children may view live footage of their children’s classrooms. The bill provides that expenses related to the installation and maintenance of classroom cameras and related services and hardware necessary to maintain live footage of classrooms shall be paid from school foundation aid. The bill requires a school district to restrict the access to view live footage of cameras in its classrooms so that only a parent or guardian of a child in the classroom may view the footage during hours in which students are in normal attendance. The bill provides that an employee of a school district who intentionally obstructs, disconnects, or otherwise causes a camera or online site not to function in a way that complies with requirements for classroom cameras is guilty of noncompliance. An employee guilty of noncompliance shall be subject to a written reprimand for a first offense; a fine equivalent to percent of the employee’s weekly salary for a second offense; and a fine equivalent to percent of the employee’s weekly salary for a third or subsequent offense. The bill provides that a superintendent of a school district who fails to cause an employee of a school district to comply with the requirements for classroom cameras shall be subject to a fine equivalent to percent of the superintendent’s weekly salary each time an employee of the superintendent’s school district is guilty of noncompliance for a third or subsequent time.