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Lawmakers hear emotional testimony on bill to require locker-room audio in schools; sponsor to amend
Summary
Representative Keith Brooks introduced a bill that would require audio recording devices in school locker rooms. The committee heard emotional testimony from students and parents describing alleged abuse; the sponsor pulled the measure to accept amendments and to work on funding language.
Representative Keith Brooks told the House Education Committee that House Bill 1866 was prompted by an allegedly violent and harassing episode in which several junior-high students in Quitman reported sustained abuse in the locker room. The bill would require schools to install audio-recording devices in locker rooms, preserve recordings for a limited period, and make recordings available to administrators or investigative authorities when specific allegations arise.
Brooks brought two families to the hearing to testify. One mother described her son’s account of repeated physical and sexualized misconduct in the junior-high locker room and a perceived failure of school administration to protect students or follow through on promised interventions. "My son was hurt, humiliated, traumatized, and violated during his junior high year at Quitman Public School," she said. Another mother and other witnesses said the recordings would have supplied evidence to support investigations, prevent further incidents and hold adults and perpetrators accountable.
Dr. Farris Smith, superintendent of White County Central School District, described the system his district installed proactively. "We have six [locker-room] devices," Smith said. He described a commercial system that flags raised voices and keywords and stores data to the cloud. Smith told the committee the district’s equipment cost about $1,299 per locker room and roughly $250 per year for cloud storage. He said the district had seen no bullying or Title IX incidents since installation and used federal safety grant funds to purchase the system.
Committee members raised questions about costs, parental notification, privacy and use during athletic events. Smith and others said districts notify parents and operate systems that are voice-activated during school hours and can be turned off for visiting teams. "We told them that students are being recorded at all times," he said, and reported no negative feedback from parents in his district.
Representative Brooks asked for time to work on amendments — particularly to address funding for small districts and to add language about retention and deletion of recordings. The sponsor said he planned to pull the bill so amendments could be drafted and promised to return to the committee. Several members praised the families for their testimony and described the subject as urgent for student safety, while others warned about unfunded mandates for small districts.
Outcome: Representative Brooks asked to pull the bill for amendment; the committee allowed additional public testimony but did not vote on the measure. The sponsor said he will amend the bill to include funding language and retention limits.
