Texas school security camera law

Does Texas require cameras in schools?

Only on request, and only in special-education settings. On a written request, a school district or open-enrollment charter school must provide equipment, including a video camera, to the campus named in the request. A campus that receives the equipment must place, operate and maintain one or more video cameras in special-education classrooms and other special-education settings. A parent of a child who receives special-education services in those settings may make the request in writing. A covered setting is one used mainly for students who spend, on average, less than half of the instructional day in a general education classroom. District policy must require the campus to start running the camera no later than the 45th school business day, with some exceptions.

What must the special-education cameras do, and where can't they look?

The cameras must be able to record audio from all areas of the classroom or setting, including an attached time-out room. TEA's rule (TEA is the Texas Education Agency) defines a video camera for this law as a surveillance camera with audio recording capability. The inside of a bathroom, and any area where students change clothes, may not be visually monitored, subject to a narrow exception in the statute. Before a camera is turned on, the school must give written notice of the placement to all staff and to the parents of each student in that classroom or setting. A district or charter may choose to require a sign at the entrance of each classroom with cameras saying video and audio surveillance takes place there. This is optional, not required statewide. Districts and charters may not allow regular or continual monitoring of the recordings.

How long must footage be kept, and who may see it?

Recordings must be kept for at least three months after the date they were recorded. A recording that documents an alleged incident must be kept until the incident is resolved, including all appeals. A recording of a student made under this law is confidential and may be released or viewed only as the statute allows. A peace officer is among those to whom a recording must be released for viewing, in response to a report of an alleged incident or an investigation. This is viewing of a recording, not live access. A recording made under this law counts as a governmental record only for the Penal Code offense of tampering with a governmental record.

Is other school video a public record?

Under the Public Information Act (Texas's open-records law), video held in computer memory is one of the forms public information can take. The Act does not require releasing information in education records except as FERPA (the federal student-privacy law) allows. Information in a student record at a state-funded educational institution is confidential and excepted from public disclosure. The Attorney General does not rule on whether FERPA covers records in an open-records request; the school that holds the records decides.

Do the state's door and entrance standards mention cameras?

A school district must make sure each facility meets the safety and security facility standards set by law or agency rule. Unless a secure vestibule is present, a primary entrance must give staff inside a way to see who is at the locked door; camera systems are one listed option, alongside windows and intercoms. Outside an exterior secured area, classrooms with exterior doors need the same kind of way to see who is at the locked door, and camera systems are again one option. These TEA requirements, in 19 TAC § 103.1215, took effect September 1, 2026.

Does Texas limit facial recognition?

A governmental entity may not develop or deploy an artificial intelligence system to uniquely identify a specific person using biometric data, subject to the statute's consent and rights conditions. For that limit, biometric data does not include photographs, video or audio recordings, or data generated from them. A violation of the state's biometric-identifier law (Bus. & Com. Code § 503.001) also counts as a violation of this limit. That biometric-identifier law bars capturing a record of face geometry for a commercial purpose without notice and consent. It does not apply to artificial intelligence systems deployed to prevent, detect or respond to security incidents or other illegal activity. The governmental limit was added by HB 149 (2025), effective January 1, 2026.

How can schools pay for cameras?

School safety allotment money must be used to improve school safety and security. It may pay for buying and maintaining security cameras. Other security equipment, including special-education video surveillance, is an allowed use only once the district has already installed security cameras. The allotment includes $20 for each student in average daily attendance, plus an add-on, and $33,540 per campus. Open-enrollment charter schools receive this funding if they would be entitled to it as a school district. A district buying safety technology or equipment with the allotment from a vendor outside the state's directory must get bids from at least three vendors. When state school funding exceeds district entitlements, the education commissioner may give grants from the excess for special-education classroom video equipment, or repay equipment already bought. Districts and charters may also seek and accept gifts, grants and donations to pay for special-education cameras.

What has changed recently?

HB 2 and SB 568 (2025) both amended the special-education camera law, effective June 20, 2025. TEA's special-education camera rule, 19 TAC § 103.1301, was last amended effective March 14, 2026. HB 121 (2025) amended the school safety allotment, effective September 1, 2025. SB 568 made the excess-funds grants for special-education video discretionary, effective September 1, 2025. HB 728 (2025), a bill on classroom camera placement and use, was referred to House Public Education on March 4, 2025, and that was its last action. No bills were passed in the 89th Legislature's 1st Called Session (2025).