Approved: July 11, 2005
Revised: October 8, 2014
Revised: August 12, 2020
USE OF VIDEO CAMERAS ON SCHOOL BUSES
The Evansville Community School District Board of Education approves the use of video cameras on the school buses for the primary purpose of reducing disciplinary problems and vandalism on the bus, thereby allowing the driver to focus on the driving of the bus, providing for safer transportation for students. The cameras and surveillance recording are the property of the District.
Parent(s)/guardian(s) shall be notified once a year that video cameras are being used on the buses.
The District Contracted Transportation Provider (Bus Contractor) shall determine the rotation as to which bus a video camera shall be located and maintain a log including the date, bus number and driver. Logs will be submitted to the District upon request. Bus drivers do not need to be informed as to which bus has an operating video camera. Individual drivers and building principals may request that the video camera be used on a specific bus on designated dates.
The bus contractor, bus driver, administrator or designee and law enforcement personnel shall be authorized to view the surveillance recording for the purpose of documenting a problem and determining which student(s) may be involved. Disciplinary action may be taken based on the viewing. Students and/or their parent(s)/guardian(s) may view the relevant segment(s) of the recording that documents the incident for which they are being disciplined. The bus contractor or building principal(s) or designee shall view the surveillance recording with the student and/or parent(s)/guardian(s) and document the date and the names of all individuals viewing the recording. Actions by students which are considered to be unlawful shall be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency who will determine if further investigation is needed.
The surveillance recording shall not be available for viewing by the public in general, employees in general, the media or other individuals, except as required or authorized by law or the District Administrator. The building principal(s) or district administrator may authorize individuals, such as the guidance counselor or school psychologist, to view segments of a specific surveillance recording, if such individuals are working with the student on the surveillance recording because of a behavior, emotional or learning problem and viewing the surveillance recording is beneficial to their role in assisting the student. A log shall be kept of the date and names of the individuals viewing the surveillance recording.
If there are no bus problems pertaining to the date a video was recorded, the recording may be erased or reused after ten (10) school days.
Legal Ref.: Sections 120.13(27) Wisconsin Statutes (School Board Powers)
121.54(7) (Transportation by School Districts)
Local Ref.: Policy #347 – Student Records
Policy #443.21 – Student Discipline: Detention, Suspension, Expulsion From District Contracted Transportation Provider
Policy #447 – Student Discipline
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