House panel clears bill requiring cameras in Florida classrooms of special needs children

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee passed a bill 14-1 on Thursday requiring cameras in the classrooms of special needs children.

Reps. Chase Tramont, R-Port Orange, and Kevin Chambliss, D-Homestead, filed HB 1655.

“[HB 1655] requires cameras in classrooms that have special needs children,” Tramont said. “The other thing that it does is it prevents school districts from collapsing and dissolving special needs classes once a school year has begun, pursuant to the rules that will be established by the Board of Education.”

Rep. Carolina Amesty, R-Windermere, asked Tramont what locations will be required to implement the cameras and if it will only be for K-12 schools.

“We’re speaking in regards to public schools and charter schools, which are deemed public schools as well,” Tramont said. “We’re speaking in K-12 at this time.”

Rep. Susan Valdes, D-Tampa, questioned if the cameras could be used punitively, particularly against the classroom instructor.

“The application of the bill is strictly to protect children, nothing to do with teacher evaluations, nothing to do with a checkup,” Tramont said. “There’s no live footage, there’s no streaming, nobody just has plain access to it, so its designed to be at least intrusive as possible. “We still want to protect the sanctity of the classroom.”

Chambliss added parents will generally only be able to see their special needs child on video.

“Someone in the school district can’t just pull it for any other use,” Chambliss said. “This is the parent request based off what may or may have not happened to their particular child, everything else in the classroom is blurred out.”

Tramont opened the possibility of adding protections to the bill for teachers.

“Since that is not the intent, we want to make sure it doesn’t get applied that way as well,” Tramont said. “I gotta be honest with you, more important than protecting the teachers is protecting the child.”

Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, asked why classrooms might benefit from having cameras.

“If you have children, I would say that the most commonly asked question, I would guarantee probably, that you’ve all asked your children when you pick them up from school, how’s your day,” Tramont said.

“This population, particularly your nonverbal children, those parents are resolved to never get to hear an answer to that question,” he said. “They accept it, not going to get an answer.”

Tramont also offered instances that could occur involving special needs students.

“What I don’t accept on behalf of this population, these parents, is a non answer to the second question you may ask your child,” Tramont said. “What happened to you at school today? Had that scratch get on your arm? How’d that bruise happen to you? I have to take the word of somebody that may have checked off a few boxes and got into got in a classroom.”

Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, questioned the cost of the cameras, including who will pay for them.

“Right now as the bill stands, it would be the school districts,” Chambliss said.

Asking for “parity” across the board, Nixon worried public schools could lose funding to private and charter schools.

“I’m concerned knowing that our public schools keep getting pillaged due to the proliferation of charter schools and now private schools being able to take public school money,” Nixon said.

Nixon voted down on the measure.

Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, filed a similar bill to HB 1655.

“This is the most vulnerable and should I say most marginalized community in our population,” Tramont said in closing. “We owe it to them to give every single ounce of protection imaginable. This bill gives them way more than an ounce, it gives them a voice.”

HB 1655 now moves to the PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee for approval. It will take effect if fully passed on July 1.