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Cameras will soon be required in some classrooms
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BATON ROUGE - A new law will put more eyes in certain public school classrooms.
It will require cameras in some special education classrooms statewide, but there are differing opinions on the balance between transparency and unnecessary oversight.
Under current state law, parents can request that cameras be installed in their child's self-contained classroom, where all students have IEPs, legal documentation that outlines a student's specific educational needs, among parents, students, and teachers.
Erika Musgrove has worked in a classroom with one of these cameras before and says they add a layer of documentation.
"It's not a 'gotcha,' it just makes sure protocols are being followed," Musgrove said.
East Baton Rouge Parish public schools currently have between 30 and 40 classrooms with cameras inside, which means more than 200 self-contained classrooms will need the tech installed.
"It makes me feel more comfortable knowing that if someone were to say that something happened in my classroom, I'd have camera documentation showing that nothing unseemly was occurring," Musgrove said.
Mary-Patricia Wray is the parent of a student with special needs and followed the legislation through the Capitol.
"No one thinks that simply having evidence of the truth of what happens in a self-contained classroom is a bad thing," Wray said. "Children who are in self-contained classrooms are really at the highest risk for abuse that goes unreported."
The law goes into effect on Feb. 1, 2026.
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