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CS/HB 859 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to exceptional students and video 2
cameras in public schools; amending s. 1003.574, F.S.; 3
deleting references to the Video Cameras in Public 4
School Classrooms Pilot Program; deleting an obsolete 5
definition; requiring a district school board to 6
establish a policy to provide video cameras in self-7
contained classrooms upon the request of a parent; 8
prohibiting a school or school district from 9
concealing the identity of an employee in a video 10
recording; providing that a video recording made 11
available after a request must include accompanying 12
audio; providing an effective date. 13
14
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15
16
Section 1. Section 1003.574, Florida Statutes, is amended 17
to read: 18
1003.574 Video cameras in public school classrooms; pilot 19
program.—Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, the Video 20
Cameras in Public School Classrooms Pilot Program is created for 21
a period of 3 school years. 22
(1) As used in this section, the term: 23
(a) "Incident" means an event, a circumstance, an act, or 24
an omission that results in the abuse or neglect of a student 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
by: 26
1. An employee of a public school or school district; or 27
2. Another student. 28
(b) "School district" means the Broward County Public 29
Schools. 30
(b)(c) "Self-contained classroom" means a classroom at a 31
public school in which a majority of the students in regular 32
attendance are provided special education services and are 33
assigned to one or more such classrooms for at least 50 percent 34
of the instructional day. 35
(2)(a) Each district school board shall establish a policy 36
to provide video cameras in self-contained classrooms upon the 37
request of a parent under paragraph (b). 38
(b)(a) A school district shall provide a video camera to 39
any school with a self-contained classroom upon the written 40
request of a parent of a student in the classroom. 41
(c)(b) Within 30 days after receipt of the request from a 42
parent, a video camera must shall be operational in each self-43
contained classroom in which the parent's student is in regular 44
attendance for the remainder of the school year, unless the 45
parent withdraws his or her request in writing. 46
(3) If the student who is the subject of the initial 47
request is no longer in attendance in the classroom and a school 48
discontinues operation of a video camera during a school year, 49
no later than the 5th school day before the date the operation 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
of the video camera is discontinued, the school must notify the 51
parents of each student in regular attendance in the classroom 52
that operation of the video camera will cease unless the 53
continued use of the camera is requested by a parent. No later 54
than the 10th school day before the end of each school year, the 55
school must notify the parents of each student in regular 56
attendance in the classroom that operation of the video camera 57
will not continue during the following school year unless a 58
written request is submitted by a parent for the next school 59
year. 60
(4)(a) A video camera placed in a self-contained classroom 61
must be capable of all of the following: 62
1. Monitoring all areas of the self-contained classroom, 63
including, without limitation, any room attached to the self-64
contained classroom which is used for other purposes. 65
2. Recording audio from all areas of the self-contained 66
classroom, including, without limitation, any room attached to 67
the self-contained classroom which is used for other purposes. 68
(b) A video camera placed in a self-contained classroom 69
may not monitor a restroom or any other area in the self-70
contained classroom where a student changes his or her clothes, 71
except for the entryway, exitway, or hallway outside a restroom 72
or other area where a student changes his or her clothes because 73
of the layout of the self-contained classroom. 74
(c) A video camera placed in a self-contained classroom is 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
not required to be in operation when students are not present in 76
the self-contained classroom. 77
(d) If there is an interruption in the operation of the 78
video camera for any reason, an explanation must be submitted in 79
writing to the school principal and the district school board 80
which explains the reason for and duration of the interruption. 81
The written explanation must be maintained at the district 82
school board office for at least 1 year. 83
(5) Before a school initially places a video camera in a 84
self-contained classroom pursuant to this section, the school 85
shall provide written notice of the placement of such video 86
camera to all of the following: 87
(a) The parent of each student who is assigned to the 88
self-contained classroom. 89
(b) Each student who is assigned to the self-contained 90
classroom. 91
(c) The school district. 92
(d) Each school employee who is assigned to work with one 93
or more students in the self-contained classroom. 94
(6) A school shall: 95
(a) Retain video recorded from a video camera placed 96
pursuant to this section for at least 3 months after the date 97
the video was recorded, after which the recording must shall be 98
deleted or otherwise made irretrievable unretrievable; or 99
(b) Retain the recording until the conclusion of any 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
investigation or any administrative or legal proceedings that 101
result from the recording have been completed, including, 102
without limitation, the exhaustion of all appeals. 103
(7) A school or school district may not: 104
(a) Allow regular, continuous, or continual monitoring of 105
video recorded under this section; or 106
(b) Use video recorded under this section for teacher 107
evaluations or any purpose other than for ensuring the health, 108
safety, and well-being of students receiving special education 109
services in a self-contained classroom; or 110
(c) Conceal the identity of a school or school district 111
employee who appears in a video recording. 112
(8) The principal of the school is the custodian of a 113
video camera operated pursuant to this section, all recordings 114
generated by that video camera, and access to such recordings. 115
(a) The release or viewing of any video recording under 116
this section must comply with s. 1002.22. 117
(b) A school or school district shall: 118
1. Conceal the identity of any student who appears in a 119
video recording, but is not involved in the alleged incident 120
documented by the video recording, which the school allows to be 121
viewed under subsection (9), including, without limitation, 122
blurring the face of the uninvolved student. 123
2. Protect the confidentiality of all student records 124
contained in a video recording in accordance with s. 1002.22. 125
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(9)(a) Within 7 days after receiving a request to view a 126
video recording, a school or school district shall allow the 127
following individuals to view a video recording with its 128
accompanying audio made under this section: 129
1. A school or school district employee who is involved in 130
an alleged incident that is documented by the video recording as 131
part of the investigative process; 132
2. A parent of a student who is involved in an alleged 133
incident that is documented by the video recording and has been 134
reported to the school or school district; 135
3. A school or school district employee as part of an 136
investigation into an alleged incident that is documented by the 137
video recording and has been reported to the school or school 138
district; 139
4. A law enforcement officer as part of an investigation 140
into an alleged incident that is documented by the video 141
recording and has been reported to the law enforcement agency; 142
or 143
5. The Department of Children and Families as part of a 144
child abuse or neglect investigation. 145
(b) A person who requests to view a recording must shall 146
make himself or herself available for viewing the recording 147
within 30 days after being notified by the school or school 148
district that the person's request has been granted. 149
(c) A person who views the recording and suspects that 150
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child abuse has occurred must report the suspected child abuse 151
to the Department of Children and Families. 152
(10)(a) Any individual may appeal to the State Board of 153
Education an action by a school or school district which the 154
individual alleges to be in violation of this section. 155
(b) The state board shall grant a hearing on an appeal 156
under this subsection within 45 days after receiving the appeal. 157
(11) A school or school district does not violate 158
subsection (8) if a contractor or other employee of the school 159
or school district incidentally views a video recording made 160
under this section in connection with the performance of his or 161
her duties related to either of the following: 162
(a) The installation, operation, or maintenance of video 163
equipment; or 164
(b) The retention of video recordings. 165
(12) This section does not: 166
(a) Limit the access of the parent of a student, under the 167
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. s. 168
1232g, or any other law, to a video recording regarding his or 169
her student. 170
(b) Waive any immunity from liability of a school district 171
or an employee of a school district. 172
(c) Create any liability for a cause of action against a 173
school or school district or an employee of a school or school 174
district carrying out the duties and responsibilities required 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
by this section. 176
(d) Apply to self-contained classrooms in which the only 177
students receiving special education services are those who have 178
been deemed gifted. 179
(13) The department shall collect information relating to 180
the installation and maintenance of video cameras under this 181
section. 182
(14) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to 183
implement this section. 184
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 185