Cumberland County Schools employees must power off smart glasses on the job under a new policy adopted after parents raised concerns about teachers wearing the recording-capable devices in classrooms.
The new policy for smart glasses applies to AI, Meta, and other smart eyewear capable of capturing, recording, livestreaming, transmitting, or transcribing data, audio, video, or images.
Superintendent Eric Bracy approved the new regulation, “Restrictions on Employee Use of Smart Glasses,” on October 5. The Cumberland County Board of Education’s Policy Committee received the regulation a day later, though a committee vote was not required.
The committee separately voted unanimously to approve a proposed new policy, “Video and Audio Recordings by Employees,” outlining when employees may record students, colleagues, meetings, and school activities. The proposal requires principal approval in advance for classroom recordings and prohibits secret recordings. The policy includes an exception for employees who make a recording to expose potential illegal activity, often called whistleblowing.
Board attorney Nick Sojka said the devices’ recording capabilities raise concerns about student confidentiality.
“Those glasses do allow for people to record video and audio of everything that’s going on around them,” Sojka said. “And that would raise obvious confidentiality issues in a classroom and in other settings.”
Employees may continue wearing smart glasses, including as prescription eyewear, but must keep the devices powered off when they are acting in their district jobs.
Employees who believe they need an exception for a disability-related reason must contact Human Resources for advance approval before using the devices during work hours. Approved accommodations may require safeguards, such as disabling recording features or limiting use to specific locations or times.
Violations will lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
Board member Terra Jordan asked whether the district would also address student use of smart glasses, saying she had seen children using the devices on social media and at schools.
Sojka said the district’s existing cellphone policy, which the board approved earlier this year, already includes language addressing the issue. The policy prohibits students from using wireless communication devices to photograph or record identifiable students or employees without consent inside school buildings, on school buses, or at school-sponsored events.
Can Teachers Still Make TikTok Videos?
The proposed recording policy applies to district employees, independent contractors, and volunteers. It covers recordings made in school buildings, on school buses, at school-sponsored activities, or while individuals are otherwise acting in their capacity as district employees.
Employees would need permission from the principal to record students or employees in classrooms or at school-sponsored events that are not open to the public.
When requesting permission, employees would have to explain the purpose of the recording, who would have access and how it would be used, any external program requirements for permission, and how the recording would be retained.
Principals could grant permission only for educational purposes. Depending on the recording and its intended use, they could also require written permission from students’ parents or from adults being recorded.
“We have teachers and stuff now that are doing TikTok videos and YouTube videos and things like that in our school building,” Jordan said. “So are they still allowed to do those?”
“As long as it’s a legitimate educational purpose and it’s approved in advance,” Sojka said.
Sojka said district officials were aware of staff members exercising questionable judgment when making videos during work time. He said the policy would give principals and district staff an additional tool to address videos that don’t serve an educational purpose.
“This makes that conversation a lot more clear when we have a policy that specifically addresses the conduct,” Sojka said.
The proposal also requires parental consent for recordings of students unless they are used solely for specified purposes, including academic or extracurricular activities, classroom instruction, safety demonstrations, photo identification cards, or security and surveillance of school property and transportation.
‘The Expectation Is Transparency’
The same proposed policy would prohibit secret recordings of other people on school property or during school-sponsored activities. It includes an exception for whistleblowing, requiring employees with knowledge of potentially illegal practices or who record under that exception to notify district personnel.
Employees could record meetings or hearings concerning their own formal grievances, performance evaluations, misconduct, disciplinary action, or termination. They would have to provide advance notice, and the school official conducting the meeting would also record it.
School officials could make audio recordings of student individualized education program meetings and disciplinary hearings, provided everyone knows the recording is being made.
“The expectation is transparency,” Sojka said. “Everybody knows upfront that’s what we’re doing.”
For other types of meetings or hearings, the school official conducting the session could make an audio recording only with everyone’s consent.
The proposal generally allows employees to record events open to the public, such as athletic competitions, concerts, presentations, and award ceremonies. Any restrictions, including those related to copyright, would have to be announced before the event begins.
Security cameras could be used on district property, but they could not be installed in areas where people reasonably expect privacy, including restrooms, locker rooms, nurses’ offices, and lactation rooms.
Recordings would have to be maintained, released, and disposed of in accordance with applicable state and federal requirements. Violations of the policy could result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
The policy will go to the full school board for a final vote.
Sojka said the district would share the smart-glasses regulation with principals and managerial leadership Wednesday.
