Parents of nonverbal students in the Bakersfield City School District are pushing for cameras inside special education classrooms, saying they often don’t know what happens during the school day and want more transparency and protection for vulnerable children.
Since January, Ashley Hopwood, a mother of two nonverbal children, has organized a petition on Change.org calling for cameras to be added to special education classrooms. The petition has reached more than 4,000 signatures. Hopwood said the effort is not meant to attack teachers, but to ensure students are protected and families feel heard.
Hopwood said she started the petition after hearing from community members and families about concerns in the district.
“I even had some experiences myself,” Hopwood said.
Some of the experiences involve her daughter allegedly being left alone in a corner and being removed from recess unexpectedly. She also claimed there were times her daughter came home with bruises without an explanation. “So we just want the classrooms to be more transparent and safe for these children,” Hopwood said.
Leanne Martinez, who is also the mother of a nonverbal child, said she supports Hopwood’s petition and raised concerns about communication between staff and parents. “The district tells their paraprofessionals that they’re not allowed to speak to parents, so of course it has to be in secretive,” Martinez said. She also tells me how parents aren’t allowed in classrooms unless, they’re escorted by staff members.
The Bakersfield City School District responded to questions about the petition by saying it “The Bakersfield City School District takes all matters related to student safety very seriously and is committed to reviewing the concerns raised. The claims outlined in the letter are broad in nature and cannot be verified without additional details. The district is working to better understand the information presented and will conduct a thorough review as more specific information becomes available. However, these claims are unsubstantiated at this time. Student safety and well-being are always a top priority. Our schools exist to support students as they learn and grow, and that work can only take place in environments where students are treated with care, dignity, and respect.”
Bakersfield City School District response to petition PHOTO:KBAK
The push for cameras in Bakersfield also comes as some states already have laws requiring or allowing them in special education classrooms, including Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and West Virginia.
“In Texas, if a child spends more than 50% of their day in a classroom and a parent requests cameras, the classroom must be equipped with them within a certain time frame.” says Hopwood.
Hopwood and Martinez said they want the Bakersfield City School District to adopt a similar approach, arguing video could help resolve incidents or accusations and protect both students and staff.
“So like if there were an incident in the classroom or there were an accusation, we could pull the footage and either say it did, it did not happen. This could also protect teachers if there were false allegations against them as well,” Hopwood said.
Not everyone supports the idea. Some special education workers in the district have raised concerns that cameras could violate student privacy and may conflict with FERPA, a federal law that protects the privacy of students’ education records. Hopwood added that once the petition reaches 5,000 signatures, she plans on taking it to the board.
Hopwood and Martinez’s message to parents who don’t have a child with special needs, is to put themselves in their shoes.
“How would they feel sending their child to school every day, knowing that, you know they can’t come home and tell them how their day was. They have to go based upon a little note that the teacher sends if they even send it. So just kind of try to, like, step back and put their their selves in our shoes” Hopwood said.
For more information on the petition or how you can support, you can it on Change.org