South Carolina H 3216: County wide school district

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3216 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3216

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
59-1-485 SO AS TO PROVIDE ALL K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS SHALL RECORD ALL CLASSROOM 
INSTRUCTION, TO PROVIDE FOR THE RETENTION AND DISCLOSURE OF RECORDINGS, TO PROVIDE 
CONSENT AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS, TO PROVIDE RELATED REQUIREMENTS OF THE STATE 
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, TO PROVIDE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOLS, AND TO 
PROHIBIT THE COMMERCIAL USE OF RECORDINGS, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

Whereas, the South 
Carolina General Assembly finds that public access to classroom instruction 
recordings can enhance transparency, foster accountability, enable parental 
engagement, and ensure adherence to educational standards; and

Whereas, the South 
Carolina General Assembly also recognizes the need to address privacy concerns 
and protect the rights of students and educators; and

Whereas, the South 
Carolina General Assembly finds it necessary and appropriate to ensure 
transparency and accountability in K-12 public education by requiring the 
recording of all classroom instruction and making these recordings available as 
public records, subject to certain privacy limitations. Now, therefore:

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 5, Chapter 1, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
59-1-485. (A)(1) All K-12 public 
schools shall record all classroom instruction including, but not limited to, 
teacher lectures, guest lectures, classroom 
discussions, and other instructional activities, whether conducted in-person or 
virtually. A recording including video and audio must be made, but in the 
temporary absence of properly functioning video recording technology an audio 
recording may be made.

 (2) 
Schools are responsible for providing and maintaining the necessary equipment 
for recording and ensuring the secure storage of recordings.

 (3) 
Schools must notify students and their guardians about the recording of 
classroom instruction upon enrollment. Explicit written consent is required 
from students aged eighteen years or older, and from the parents or guardians 
of students under eighteen years of age, before the student may be video 
recorded. Schools must retain records of this written consent for five years 
after the date on which consent was granted.

 (4) 
Recordings must be accessible to the public in compliance with the South 
Carolina Freedom of Information Act for a period of five years after recording 
is made.

 (B)(1) Schools must implement procedures 
to redact or anonymize recordings to protect the privacy of students and 
educators. This includes blurring faces or voices and removing personal 
identifiers.

 (2) 
Recordings containing sensitive or confidential content, excluding personnel 
matters, may be exempt from public disclosure but must still be recorded and 
stored for internal review.

 (3) 
A review process must be established to address concerns about privacy and 
content sensitivity before making recordings publicly available.

 (C) 
The State Department of Education shall:

 (1) 
oversee compliance with the provisions of this section and provide guidance and 
support to schools; and

 (2) 
promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this section.

 (D) 
Schools must submit annual reports to the overseeing authority detailing 
compliance, challenges, and any incidents involving privacy concerns. A school 
must notify the department within twenty-four hours after any interruption in 
its recording or storage capacity, and the department shall maintain a record 
of such incidents.

 (E) 
Schools failing to comply with recording requirements or FOIA provisions may 
face penalties, including fines or administrative action.

 (F) 
The commercial use of recordings made pursuant to this section is prohibited. A 
person who uses recordings made pursuant to this section in violation of this 
subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished 
by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more 
than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court, for each offense.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect on July 1, 
2026.

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This web page was last updated on December 06, 2024 at 10:43 AM