CODE E12: VIDEO SURVEILLANCE 

POLICY 

The Board recognizes the District's responsibility to maintain order, safety, and discipline on school grounds and busses. The Board recognizes the value of electronic surveillance systems in monitoring activity on school property in protecting the health, welfare, and safety of its students and staff, and to facilitate investigation of incidents on school grounds. 

The School Board has authorized the installation and use of video cameras in public areas of the school, such as (but not limited to) school busses, hallways, auditoriums, lobbies, the cafeteria, and school grounds including the parking lot, sidewalks, playing fields, and other school grounds. Individuals including students who are in such areas do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Such video recording may be conducted without prior notice and without student or parent consent. 

The use of video surveillance equipment on school grounds and on other District property shall be supervised and controlled by the building administrator or his/her designee. At no time should students, staff, parents and/or community members have any expectation that anyone is monitoring events on the surveillance cameras as they occur. Nor should they assume that someone will immediately respond to an incident in progress. All incidents of concern need to be reported immediately to the administration. 

The use of video recordings from surveillance equipment shall be subject to the other policies of the District, including the policies concerning directory information and confidentiality of student and personnel records. The video recordings may or may not include sound recordings. 

The District retains the right to use video recordings in student disciplinary hearings and staff personnel hearings. Subject to Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERP A) and federal and state law, the resulting videos may be turned over to the proper legal authorities for criminal prosecution, where criminal conduct is involved.

Video recordings made as a part of staff professional development activities, student work, or other educational activities are excluded from this policy so long as they are utilized only for their expressed purpose. 

Procedures: 

Except as noted above, all footage will be considered confidential and is to be viewed only on an "as needed" basis by the administration and/or by the district transportation supervisor. Tapes may be used to support disciplinary action for inappropriate behavior

Tapes not necessary for ensuring appropriate discipline will be recycled within sixty days. 

Parents/guardians of children who have been involved in incidents are allowed to view tapes of the incident and may do so by requesting such in writing to either the building administration or the superintendent of schools. 

Notifications: 

The District shall notify its students and staff annually that video surveillance may occur on school property. The District shall incorporate the notice in the Student Handbook, on the District's website, or in a separate mailing to students. The District shall post a notice at the main entrance of each school district building and on school busses where video surveillance is in effect. 

First Reading: December 10, 2012

Date Warned: January 14, 2013

Adopted: January 23, 2013

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