The New Westminster school district is updating its procedures around surveillance cameras — including how and when video recordings can be disclosed to the police.
The issue of surveillance cameras in schools arose in the fall, when New Westminster Secondary School staff and students raised concerns about safety at NWSS after a series of incidents that included pepper-spraying, firecrackers and a fire in a washroom.
As one part of its response to those concerns, School District 40 agreed to install more surveillance cameras at key locations in the school, such as hallways and entranceways.
Those discussions led to a review of the district’s administrative procedure around surveillance to ensure it’s in line with the School Act and privacy legislation, associate superintendent Maryam Naser told trustees at the school board’s Feb. 7 operations committee meeting.
The amended administrative procedure notes: “Video surveillance shall be used judiciously and only where the benefit outweighs its impact on the privacy of those observed.”
Among the resulting changes:
- The parents’ advisory council (PAC) of a school must approve any permanent video surveillance camera installation and proposed use.
- Video recordings may be disclosed to police to assist in investigations, as authorized by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA).
Naser told trustees that, in the case of the new cameras at NWSS, the PAC has been part of the discussions.
“I can tell you that in that particular case, that consultation has taken place and the PAC at NWSS is quite supportive,” she said, noting the School Act requires PAC approval. “There’s that addition to make sure that in the future, it’s clearly highlighted that the PAC is part of this process.”
Surveillance video can't be used for general monitoring: SD40
The idea of providing video recordings to the police raised concerns from trustee Marc Andres, who questioned why the section was being added. He also questioned whether it would mean that police would be allowed to access video recordings from the school if they had a student under investigation for other reasons but wanted to look further into a student’s actions.
Naser said the district’s procedures don’t allow video surveillance to be used for general monitoring.
“We only access recordings when there has been an incident,” she said. “This really is there as a safety measure and really relied upon in those circumstances.”
Naser said the section around disclosing to police has been added in line with current practice — which is that if the school district calls the police in to investigate an incident at the school, that recording may be provided as part of the evidence.
“It’s been added (to the administrative procedure) to inform anyone who’s reviewing this that this is something that may happen if an incident is captured on a video recording, where there’s criminal dealings that require us to involve the police, that we would disclose it,” she said, noting FOIPPA regulations are followed in those cases.
She said school administration, in cooperation with senior district staff, decide when an incident merits police involvement.
“We do take our responsibility for minors seriously, including if police are involved in anything related to our students and any contact with our students,” she said. “So it is used very judiciously, but it is currently our practice, when we have something captured on a video camera, to — after contacting families and so on — to involve police if it’s necessary.”
You can find the full text of the surveillance procedures (Administrative Procedure 181) in the agenda for the Feb. 7 operations committee meeting.
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