HOOVER, Ala. —
Parents of nonverbal students are continuing their push for cameras inside special education classrooms in Hoover City Schools. They argue recorded video could help families understand and investigate incidents involving children who cannot speak for themselves.
Charles Daniel and Jonathan Hornsby brought their request before the Hoover City Schools Board of Education on Tuesday night. Daniel has twin boys who are nonverbal students in the district, and Hornsby also has a nonverbal daughter.
The fathers said they’ve advocated for classroom cameras since 2022. They believe cameras would provide an objective record if questions about an injury, interaction or other classroom incident came up.
Hornsby knows cameras won’t stop every incident. However, he said video could give his daughter a record of an experience she may not be able to describe herself.
“[Cameras] provides structural clarity for incident reviews and shields our hardworking educators from false allegations just as much as it protects our kids,” Hornsby said. “We’ve been asking for transparency since 2022. Four years of waiting is enough to urge this board to pull down the available state grant applications and establish a clear timeline to get cameras into these rooms.”
Daniel said district officials raised concerns about the cost and questioned if Hoover City Schools has fully studied the expense. He estimates cameras would cost less than $5,000 for each classroom. Based on his estimate of 20 self-contained classrooms, he placed the total cost at approximately $100,000. Those numbers have not been independently confirmed, and Hoover City Schools said the number of spaces serving exceptional education students frequently changes.
Daniel believes state grant funding may be available to help cover the project. It has not been confirmed if the funding he cited would be available to Hoover to pay for the proposed cameras.
“We’re asking Hoover City Schools to lead the way,” Daniel said. “Let’s have the difficult conversation and find a solution. Because doing nothing is also a decision, and when it comes to our most vulnerable students, I don’t believe that doing nothing is good enough.”
A statement from the school district said, “In Hoover City Schools, we are committed to providing all of our students with the highest level of instruction and support possible in a safe and caring learning environment. In our exceptional education classrooms, we have multiple adults supporting our students’ individual needs, as determined by a team of professionals and the child’s parents. We have around 2,000 exceptional education students currently enrolled in HCS.
“In lieu of applying for the state’s very limited camera grant, the district annually pursues grant opportunities that provide exceptional education teachers, licensed therapists, and support personnel. Hoover City Schools believes these investments have the greatest impact on students by helping us maintain low student-to-adult ratios and to recruit, train, and retain trusted teachers and staff who support and care for our students every day.
“At each of our school campuses, we have numerous self-contained classrooms, resource classrooms, sensory spaces, and other spaces. Due to the increasing number of exceptional education students in the district, the number of classroom spaces is ever-changing and increasing. Also, it is very common for principals to make adjustments to spaces from year to year (or even mid-year) as enrollment increases and students’ needs change.”
Hornsby said he hopes the school board will approve funding for cameras before parents have to raise the money themselves to make the proposal a reality. He and Daniel also questioned why cameras are used to monitor school property and other students but have not been extended to classrooms serving some of the district’s most vulnerable children. The school board has not announced whether it will vote on the parents’ proposal.