Wisconsin school security camera law

What does Wisconsin law allow for school cameras?

Wisconsin law permits, but does not require, a school bus to be equipped with a device that records audio, video or both of the bus interior while it carries students. Recording is allowed only if the school's governing body adopts a policy authorizing audiovisual recording on school buses. The authorization covers school boards, independent charter schools authorized under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), and private and tribal schools. Notice of the policy must go to students and their parents or guardians and be clearly posted inside the bus. Bus recordings are confidential and may be used only by school officials and law enforcement for investigations, school discipline and criminal prosecutions about incidents in or around the bus. The bus-recording law is 2025 Wisconsin Act 160 (2025 Senate Bill 391), enacted April 2, 2026. It was published April 3, 2026, and took effect the day after publication.

Are there rules for cameras in locker rooms?

Every owner or operator of a locker room in Wisconsin, not just schools, must adopt a written privacy policy. The policy must say which recording devices may be used in the locker room and when. For this law, a recording device includes a camera or video recorder.

Can school cameras record audio?

Wisconsin's wiretap law makes it a Class H felony (a serious crime) to intentionally use a device to intercept an oral communication, unless an exception applies. It protects only oral communications made with a justified expectation that they will not be intercepted.

Is school video a public or pupil record?

In the pupil-records statute, a record includes material holding visual information, whatever its physical form. Pupil records kept by a public school are confidential, with listed exceptions. Law enforcement unit records are excluded from the definition of pupil records. A school-district law enforcement unit includes a component designated to maintain the physical security and safety of a public school. School boards must treat law enforcement unit records of juveniles the same way law enforcement agencies treat officers' juvenile records. Each school board must set, by written rule, how long pupil records are kept. DPI (Department of Public Instruction) guidance from November 2018 says pupil records include records kept on video and audio tape. It does not address security footage specifically, and it is guidance, not law. Under the public records law, a record that another state or federal law exempts from disclosure is exempt from public inspection, except for any portion that contains public information.

What does state guidance recommend?

The Department of Justice Office of School Safety's Comprehensive School Safety Framework is non-binding guidance. It calls security cameras useful but limited in enhancing school safety. It recommends that schools with cameras work with local law enforcement or security staff to limit blind spots and prevent tampering. It says monitors showing security camera feeds should be easy for office staff to see. It recommends that staff be able to view live video feeds while using the public address system. If no one can watch camera feeds continuously, it recommends monitors that several staff members can easily see. It recommends prominently posting signs that security cameras are in use. It lists camera usage among the physical-security items a school safety assessment should analyze.

Can drones fly over schools?

No one may fly a drone over property a school owns or sits on while the school is open to students for instruction or during a board-approved event, except as listed. The school board or governing body, or its designee, can expressly authorize a flight. It must answer a request to authorize a flight within 5 business days. Drones may also fly at the direction of the sheriff or the chief of a law enforcement, fire or EMS agency with jurisdiction, but only for listed purposes. Those purposes include surveilling a place to execute an arrest warrant, and preventing imminent danger to a person or imminent destruction of evidence when an officer reasonably suspects a drone is needed. A violation can bring a forfeiture (a civil fine) of up to $5,000, and an officer investigating a violation must seize the images or video the drone recorded.

How can schools pay for security upgrades?

DOJ school safety grants may fund safety-related upgrades to school buildings, equipment and facilities. The statute does not name cameras. Public school boards, independent charter school operators, private schools and tribal schools may apply. The DOJ school safety appropriation funds these grants and does not name cameras. For DOJ Critical Incident Stabilization Funds, applicants cannot use cameras to meet the staff visual-screening prerequisite.

What bills have been considered?

The Assembly companion to the bus-recording law, 2025 AB 395, failed to pass. 2025 AB 575 would have barred every state agency and local governmental unit from using facial recognition technology or its data for any purpose except identifying their own employees. AB 575 failed to pass on March 23, 2026.