Dana Ferguson

dferguson@argusleader.com

Kids, put your phones down.

And parents, that goes for you too. No, seriously. If you don't you could be in trouble.

Parents or others who photograph or take video in the classroom without a teacher's permission could face misdemeanor charges under a bill making its way through the Legislature.

The House Education Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor for non-students to use electronic listening or recording devices in classrooms. That means they'd be subject to 30 days in jail, a $500 or both.

Rep. Susan Wismer, D-Britton, said she brought House Bill 1196 to address the issues that juvenile justice reform has created for schools, but welcomed the offer to extensively amend the bill as long as she could still share her perspective on the bill's original intention in committee.

Rob Monson, executive director of School Administrators of South Dakota, said he hoghoused Wismer's bill to give school officials another venue to deter potentially unflattering posts parents or other visitors made of teachers without their consent.

"At this point school administrators have no influence over what parents may do short of denying them access to the school," Monson said.

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Monson said he'd heard concerns from school district administrators who'd faced situations where students or parents would photograph or film teachers without their knowledge and post the photos or videos as social media memes with comments or illustrations placed over them in an unflattering way.

“Sometimes those things can be misconstrued as goofiness and taken out of context very easy to see,” Monson said.

Wade Pogany, executive director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, said the subject of technology has been challenging for superintendents and school boards to navigate. He said passing the bill would give schools another tool.

"We're always struggling to find ways to make sure that we're not only protecting the children but protecting the rights of the teachers and balancing there between the parents and where that is and that is a tough road," Pogany said.

No one stood to oppose the bill in committee.

The bill passed through the House Education Committee on a 8-6 vote. It moves now to the House for a vote. Majority leaders in the chamber said they weren't familiar with the bill Thursday and couldn't say how it would fare.

Follow Dana Ferguson on Twitter @bydanaferguson, call (605) 370-2493 or email dferguson@argusleader.com

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