North Penn committee weighs classroom camera pilot for students who are nonverbal; legal and privacy hurdles remain

Dr. Bauer, a district administrator and Safe Schools Committee member, told the committee that parents have requested cameras in classrooms where nonverbal students spend large portions of the school day, and the district is exploring options and limits.

"Some people advocate for cameras in classrooms at large and others more recently are advocating for cameras in classrooms, whereas nonverbal students, spend most of their day," Dr. Bauer said. He said the district already has cameras in common spaces and on buses, but not in regular academic classrooms. "It is my understanding that cameras in schools cannot have audio due to the PA wiretap law and, some of the privacy restrictions. We can have audio on buses. So our cameras and all of our buses do have audio, but any of the classroom cameras in our schools do not."

Legal counsel Mr. Summers told the committee that…