Frederick Co. Schools considers special ed classroom cameras

The Frederick County School Board will consider putting cameras in some special education classrooms, which many teachers say unfairly singles them out.

Dustin Bane, who has a 10-year-old son who has autism and is nonverbal, has been pushing for cameras in classrooms since his son came home from school with a bruise in 2019.

“He can’t tell me how that bruised occurred, so four years later, I could still be sending my son to a school where he’s being abused by someone there and I’d have no way of knowing

The school board plans to discuss the possibility of creating a camera pilot program Wednesday evening. The cameras would be in classrooms for students in the Expressions program, which accommodates those with severe communication challenges.

But a survey shows Expressions staff members are mostly against it. Of the 58 who responded to the survey, 12 support it, 26 oppose it and 20 want more information before deciding.

"This shows distrust in the staff, causing anxiety for the staff, who will always be feeling like they are being watched,” one respondent commented.

“I think cameras would be a great way to not only protect students, but protect staff as well,” another commented.

The survey showed teachers have many concerns about how the video could be used against them.

Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information

Bane says the cameras would not be used to spy on teachers and could not be used for performance evaluations. He says the video only would be accessed if there is an abuse complaint.

“If it was just a situation of kids happening to getting bruises, they would be exonerated, and otherwise, if it was a case of abuse, we would have the evidence necessary to remove that person from the school,” Bane said.

The camera program has been discussed for the past year-and-a-half. It’s unclear if the board will vote on it Wednesday evening.

Bane says he’ll keep advocating for the program even if it fails and will continue to push for legislation on the state level. State legislation that would require cameras in some special education classrooms has been introduced in Maryland multiple times but has never passed.