— In California, the United States District Court, declared the use of “surveillance equipment capable of recording video or audio in or near school restrooms” to be a violation of students’ reasonable expectation of privacy. The educators, in a tuition-free public charter school, deployed “surveillance technology … in the girl’s restroom (that had) the ability to record both audio and video.” During the school day, two students “used the restroom … during lunch.” The recording of their private conversations resulted in “a physical search of (the students’) backpack and pockets.” In the lawsuit, the students made the following demands: (1) Enjoin Defendants and their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and other persons who are in active concert with any of them from video and/or audio recording students in restrooms or any other place in which students have a reasonable expectation of privacy; (2) Order Defendants to immediately disable, remove, and destroy all surveillance equipment capable of recording video or audio in or near school restrooms; (3) Order Defendants to destroy all existing video and audio recordings of S.B. or any other student in school restrooms; and (4) Order Defendants to provide written notice to all students and parents regarding the removal of restroom surveillance equipment and destruction of all recordings. Applying the rule of law from the cases of New Jersey v. T.L.O. and Katz v. United States, the court agreed with the students that “the suspicionless surveillance of children in the restroom (is a) gross invasion of privacy.” Therefore, the court ordered school officials to “immediately disable and remove all surveillance equipment capable of recording video or audio in or near school restrooms.” Further, the court ordered school officials to preserve the video and audio from the restrooms and to refrain from viewing recordings as the resolution of liability continues. S.B. et al v. California Republic Leadership Acad., Capistrano et al. Additional Party Names: J.B., Nick Nordstrom, No. 8:25-CV-02649-DOC-JDE, 2025 WL 4061570 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 5, 2025).
— In Kansas, the legislature is “fast-tracking a bill that would bar students from using personal devices during school hours.” Senate Bill 302 is creating a split between “parents and law enforcement supporting the ban (and) school boards, teachers’ groups and students (who) push back against what they call state overreach.” The legislation also prohibits “teachers from using social media to communicate directly with students, aiming to prevent inappropriate contact on unmonitored platforms.”
— In Tennessee, the legislature has introduced the Student Internet Protection Act. HB 1886 “would require school technology departments to create approved website lists and notify parents when students access banned content. It would also eliminate school email accounts for pre-K through fifth-grade students.” The policy idea comes after a “mother’s discovery that her third-grade daughter easily accessed disturbing content on a school-issued device.”
— In Alabama, the legislature has introduced legislation “that would require automatic one-year suspensions for students charged with making school threats.” The provisions of House Bill 7 mandate the suspension if students are charged with the offense. “Students would also have to complete any court-ordered mental health evaluation or counseling before returning to school.”