Cameras on campus? School board will debate surveillance policy tonight
Cameras on campus? School board will debate surveillance policy tonight
The Willits Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold two public hearings tonight, and also address changes in two policy issues: one on camera surveillance on campus and the other on gender identity harassment.
The board also will consider a policy that allows the district to award contracts for facilities maintenance projects of $175,000 or less by developing a list of interested contractors and soliciting bids directly from them.
Facilities Director Wayne Bashore has prepared a list of 116 local contractors, and if the new policy is approved, letters will be sent asking these contractors if they’re interested in participating. If adequate responses “for all trades” are not generated with the first mailing, the list will be expanded.
A public hearing on the renewal of the Willits Charter School charter is set for 5:30 p.m. WUSD Superintendent Debra Kubin recommends the charter petition be approved, with a five-year term.
The second public hearing, set for 5:45 p.m., is a required “sunshine” hearing to seek public input on the district’s proposal to the Willits Teachers Association. the WTA’s proposal to the district also is on the agenda. the district and the union will begin labor negotiations once the “sunshining” process is completed.
The surveillance item was put onto the board’s agenda by student services director Mariam Galvarin, to deal with a reported issue with “dark and isolated from public view” areas where parents, students and staff have to walk between the after-school programs at Blosser Lane and Baechtel Grove schools and the parking lot.
“In order to prevent criminal activities,” both schools have been provided with surveillance systems, but since current district policy does not cover surveillance systems the policy must be revised to use them.
New language on surveillance systems in the policy reports that “although courts have not ruled on the use of surveillance systems in school settings, generally, the use of cameras (i.e., a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment) must be reasonable and the cameras must not be used in areas where there is a ‘reasonable expectation of privacy thus, cameras should not be located in areas such as bathrooms, lockers or private offices.” Examples of areas where cameras may be used include hallways, stairwells, parking lots and cafeterias. Use of recording devices in a classroom without the prior consent of the teacher and the principal is prohibited.
According to the new policy, the superintendent or designee, in consultation with the site councils and relevant staff, “shall identify appropriate locations for placement of surveillance cameras.” Any cameras will have audio disabled “so that sounds are not recorded.”
The school district already bars discrimination and harassment based on “the actual or perceived ethnic group, religion, gender, color, race, ancestry, national origin, and physical or mental disability, age or sexual orientation.”
The proposed policy change would add language regarding transgender and gender non-conforming students in order to conform with the California educational code, which provides that “no person shall be subject to discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity and gender expression” in any educational program or activity.
Items in the new policy include: names/pronouns; restroom and locker room accessibility; sports and gym classes; dress codes; and other areas where students are separated by gender, like field trips or class discussions.
Generally speaking, students will have the right to be addressed, to dress, to participate in school activities, and to use school facilities according “to their gender identity that is consistently asserted at school.”
Transgender and gender non-conforming students will have access to the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Where available, a single-stall bathroom may be used by any student who desires increased privacy, but such use will not be required. Transgender students will not be forced to use the locker room corresponding to their gender assigned at birth. “In locker rooms that involve undressing in front of others,” transgender students will be provided with “the available accommodation that best meets the needs and privacy concerns of all students.” Such accommodations may include, but are not limited to: the use of a private area inside the locker room (for example, an area separated by a curtain or an instructor’s office; using the locker room before or after the other students; or the use of a nearby private area.).
“Participation in competitive athletic activities and contact sports” will be decided on a case-by-case basis.”
The WUSD board meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Willits High School cafeteria, 299 North Main Street.
