5131.111
Students
Conduct
Video Surveillance
The Board of Education recognizes the district's
responsibility to maintain order and discipline on school property and in
school vehicles. The Board also desires
to afford students and staff privacy in respect to the records maintained by
the district. The Board recognizes the
value of electronic surveillance systems in monitoring activity on school
property and in school vehicles in furtherance of protecting the health,
welfare and safety of its students and staff.
The students and staff of the district recognize that their security and
safety depends upon the capacity of the district to maintain discipline and
that a certain amount of restraint upon the activities of students is assumed
and expected.
The Board of Education having carefully weighed and
balanced the rights of privacy of students and staff against the district's
duty to maintain order and discipline, finds that it is appropriate to provide
for the use of video camera surveillance in its transportation vehicles and on
school grounds as follows:
1. The
district shall notify its students and staff that video surveillance may occur
on any school property or on any transportation vehicle. The district shall incorporate said notice
in the student handbook;
2. The use
of video surveillance equipment on transportation vehicles shall be supervised
by the district transportation supervisor.
The use of video surveillance equipment on school grounds and on other
district property shall be supervised and controlled by the building
administrator or other responsible administrator;
3. The use
of video recordings from surveillance equipment shall be subject to the other
policies of the district including policies concerning the confidentiality of
student and personnel records;
4. Video
surveillance shall only be used to promote the order, safety and security of
students, staff and property.
Legal Reference: Title I - Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities
Act. (PL 105-17)
Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act, sec. 438, 20 U.S.C. sec. 1232g (1988).
Policy
adopted: March 9, 2004 EAST HADDAM PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
Moodus,
Connecticut
5131.111
Form
EAST HADDAM PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
Moodus, Connecticut
NOTICE TO STUDENTS AND PARENTS
REGARDING THE USE OF
VIDEO
RECORDERS ON SCHOOL BUSES
The
district has installed video recording equipment on all school buses to monitor
school transportation and will be videotaping bus routes at random during the
upcoming school year. Each bus has been
equipped with a video monitor box, in which a video recording device may be
installed. Students will not be
notified when a recording device has been installed on their bus.
Tapes
shall be reviewed on a routine basis by the principal and evidence of student
misconduct will be documented. Students
found to be in violation of the district's bus conduct rules, as contained in
the student handbook, shall be notified and disciplinary action will be
initiated under the guidelines contained in the district's discipline
procedures for district-approved student transportation.
Videotapes
shall be treated as protected student records under the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act. The following
guidelines shall apply:
1. Tapes shall remain in the custody of
[ ];
2. Parents or students who wish to view a
videotape in response to disciplinary action taken against a student may
request such access under the procedures set out in the Student Records
Management policy of the district;
3. Persons unrelated to a disciplinary
incident shall not be permitted to view bus videotapes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I
understand and acknowledge the district's procedures concerning the use of
video recorders on school buses. I also
understand that my student ________________________________________,
shall
be held accountable for his/her conduct on district transportation and for the
consequence outlined in the district's discipline procedures for
district-approved student transportation.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Date