Findlay school officials: Police access to cameras follows law

Findlay school board's agreement to allow police access to school security cameras was drafted by district attorneys for good reason. Federal law, in most cases, prohibits it. The Findlay City Schools Board of Education voted 5-0 during regular session Monday to grant police access to the security cameras. Locally, the agreement might be a first. "I do not know of any other police department doing this, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was happening," said Findlay Police Chief Robert Ring. "We look to this to be a reliable source of information that will expedite the law enforcement response to the right areas should a critical event occur. Being able to rely on live information on suspect location will shorten the window that the suspect has to cause injury/damage." John Price, a staff attorney with the Ohio School Boards Association, said the agreement is not uncommon. "The primary legal considerations for these kinds of arrangements come from a federal law called the Family Educational Records Privacy Act (FERPA)," Price said. "FERPA protects the privacy of student records, and sometimes school surveillance videos can constitute educational records for students when certain conditions are met, such as when those records depict the student committing an act that is resulting in disciplinary action, shows the student committing a criminal act, or otherwise contains personally identifiable information about that student." Price explained when a school record is protected by FERPA, a school may only disclose it to a third party, such as law enforcement, if the student's parent (or the student, if 18 or older) consents to the disclosure, or if an "exception to the consent rule applies." "Some of these exceptions allow for the disclosure of information in situations in which it is necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of staff or students or when there is a court order or subpoena for records from a court," Price said. "There are other exceptions as well, but these are typically the most relevant in these situations." The school district's agreement with Findlay police relies on the "health and safety" exception. The agreement defines health or safety in a "non-exhaustive" list as including active shooter, bomb threats or "any other immediate threat to life, limb or safety of the building occupants." It will be up to the police department to decide when access to the cameras is warranted "to assist in thwarting" a significant threat, according to the agreement. Earlier this week, The Courier reported that the police department will be permitted to monitor the exterior of the district's school buildings, including real-time footage and video recordings, at any time. Access to interior cameras would only be permitted in the case of a threat or a call for help. Interim Superintendent Krista Miller said that is incorrect. Miller said police access to all district cameras will require a "trigger event," and that the use of the terms "internal" vs "external" in the agreement refers to networks, not the location of the security cameras. "The use of the word 'external' means that the cameras are external to the Findlay P.D.'s network (i.e., they are not Findlay P.D. cameras)," Miller said. However, the memorandum of understanding (MOU) makes no mention of networks when making the distinction between the two. It reads as follows: "By accessing Milestone, FCS external security camera real-time footage and video recordings can be displayed at the FPD Dispatch location at any time. FPD agrees that it will maintain all credentials to access FCS security cameras via Milestone software in a secure location within its facilities and that it will share these credentials with the fewest number of its employees possible to achieve the purpose of this MOU. Moreover, FPD agrees that FCS internal security camera real-time footage and video recordings can only be viewed by its employees at FPD Dispatch and the FPD command center in the event of a Health or Safety Emergency (as that phrase is defined herein) or at the explicit request of FCS Administration personnel (Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and Principals only)." The MOU goes on to state that "Findlay City Schools internal security cameras real-time footage and video recordings" may not be used for law enforcement purposes, except during an emergency. The clause does not address the use of external footage and video recordings. The agreement reads as follows: "The Findlay City Schools internal security cameras' real-time footage and video recordings are not to be used for law enforcement purposes, except: during the pendency of an actual Health or Safety Emergency as defined in paragraph 2.a, or 2) at the explicit request of Findlay City Schools Administration personnel (Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and Principals only)." In addressing the school board on Monday, after the vote, Martin White, the district's chief information officer, also spoke in terms of "inside" versus "exterior" building location and did not mention networks. He also said the district plans to install cameras on two poles in the student parking lot at Findlay High School to give a 360-degree view of the lot. On Friday, Findlay Service-Safety Director Rob Martin said city officials agree with Miller's "understanding of the intent and language of the MOU." The agreement also asks that credentials to access the cameras be shared with the fewest police department employees as possible, and that internal cameras only be accessible from the department's dispatch center or the mobile command center. Dissemination of real-time footage or video recordings from the security cameras is also prohibited under the agreement — however, the district superintendent can approve their release. "Findlay City Schools has been working closely with the Findlay Police Department to ensure the safety of our students and staff members. Part of this work resulted in the MOU that the Board approved at last night's meeting," Miller said Tuesday. "The safety of our students and staff members is my top priority and I am thankful for the partnership we have with the Findlay Police Department." Video of Monday's school board meeting is available on YouTube at Findlay City Schools, and the entire MOU is available online with this story at thecourier.com. More information about FERPA and school surveillance videos is available online at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/faq/faqs-photos-and-videos-under-ferpa. Grant: 419-427-8412