A Tennessee lawmaker is pushing for new safety measures in special education classrooms across the state.
“I want every student in the state of Tennessee, no matter which type of setting, I want them safe and secure,” Raper said.
On January 15th, State Representative Kevin Raper of Cleveland introduced House Bill 1701. The bill would require local education agencies and public charter schools to install and monitor surveillance cameras in special education classrooms.
Raper says the goal is to keep students safe, while also protecting teachers from false accusations.
“When someone accuses a teacher of doing so and so, you can go right to the camera right there and say, ‘Hey, this is not true'”.
However, the bill does not mandate automatic installation. Cameras would only be placed in classrooms where a majority of parents provide written consent. For example, in a classroom with 21 students, at least 11 parents would need to approve the cameras.
“You have to have a majority. If you don’t have that approval, it can’t happen,” Raper said.
Some parents say the added transparency would give them peace of mind.
Katie Evans has two children enrolled in exceptional education classes at Soddy Elementary. She says she supports the proposal and even requested cameras in her children’s classrooms last fall.
“Having cameras in the classroom would one hundred percent make our lives as parents feel so much better,” Evans said.
She says cameras are already common in other areas of schools.
“If they’re in the hallways and if they’re in the playground, why can’t I have that to support my child and support our fight for him?” Evans said.
Funding for the cameras remains unclear. Raper says he hopes the state will help offset the cost, potentially sharing expenses with local school systems.
“I just do not like unfunded mandates for anything local. We’re looking at possibly the state paying for one part, and local pay for another,” Raper said. “It would be for the most part a one-time really big hit, and after that it’s not — but I’m hoping to greatly minimize that.”
The bill is now making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly and currently sits in the Education Administration Subcommittee.
If approved, it will be implemented starting July 1, 2026, applying to the 2026-2027 school year and subsequent years.