“Our students are dispersed throughout the building for much of their day. Griffith also said that using the terminology “special needs classrooms” is inappropriate because these students are not contained in one classroom.
Even the ones that do not speak,” she said, adding that some have anxiety and myriad other issues that may hinder them from entering a classroom if they see the cameras. “Students will know the cameras are there. Special education students already struggle to find their voice and a place in a general education setting, said Griffith, and putting cameras in their classrooms would further segregate them from their peers. “First and foremost, we feel this is a very discriminatory policy.” “I would like to let you know that a growing number of our educators are becoming concerned with the conversation surrounding these policies,” Griffith told board members. She is a parent of four students who have graduated from WCPS and another who is still in school and has a 504 plan, which provides services and modifications to the learning environment so the child may access an education that’s equal to what other students receive. Sarah Griffith, a special education teacher at Skyline High School, also spoke. “It can be something that’s mutually beneficial.” “So I don’t think this has to be parents versus teachers,” she said. O’Brien added that having cameras in these classrooms could also be helpful for teachers if they’re falsely accused or threatened by older students in the high school setting. “And with different situations in the home, that communication can break down at home, as well.” “So in order to protect the children, we need to have something that’s more objective than what a child is saying to a parent,” she added. “Further, they may not recognize that what has happened to them or another student is wrong, especially if it’s something that’s ongoing. “Children with special needs, especially those whose special needs involve the ability to communicate, cannot be expected to perfectly articulate what has happened in the classroom or their interactions with teachers,” O’Brien told the School Board. O’Brien expressed concerns about students needing more protection from abuse, such as what occurred recently in a WCPS elementary school. Maria O’Brien (above), a Warren County resident in the Fork District, said that as a mother of a special needs student who has challenges with communication, she supports the proposed installation and monitoring of cameras in special needs classrooms. Board member Antoinette Funk was absent on Wednesday.
School Board Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi and board members Andrea Lo and Melanie Salins also were present at the meeting. And so, of course, we’re still kind of working our way through it and looking forward to some more discussion as we go through this evening and the next couple of board meetings.” “But I didn’t see everybody’s aspect of it. “And that’s really what we need because when I first heard about the cameras, I, as a parent, thought that it sounded like a great idea,” Pence said. “I appreciate the camera discussions that I’ve had and the opportunity to speak with several teachers and several parents over the past multiple weeks since this first came up,” said Board Chair Kristen Pence on Wednesday, noting she has received “lots of varying viewpoints and really good input from everybody.” The school division’s legal team has provided a draft policy for review by the School Board, which also considered the proposed item later during its meeting.
The School Board, at its June 21 work session, discussed possibly adding cameras in preschool and special needs classrooms and recommended that WCPS staff develop a potential board policy related to cameras in the classrooms.
FISHBOWL INVENTORY REVIEW INSTALL
Several residents and staff from Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) addressed whether the school division should install cameras in the classrooms for students in special education during the Warren County School Board’s Wednesday, July 12 meeting. From left, WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger and Warren County School Board members Andrea Lo, Kristen Pence, Ralph Rinaldi, and Melanie Salins meet on July 12.
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