STATE NEWS — The new school year will bring a major change to special education classrooms across Louisiana, as a recently passed law goes into effect aimed at increasing transparency and student safety.
Under Act 479, all self-contained special education classrooms in the state will be required to have at least one security camera installed by Feb. 1, 2026.
“Previously, it was with a parental request,” said Falin Key, special education director for the Lafayette Parish School System. “Now, it’s mandated.”
Key said Lafayette Parish is well on track to meet the deadline, with 132 classrooms scheduled to have cameras installed by the due date—thanks to nearly $400,000 in state funding.
“These are classrooms where the majority of the students spend most of their day in special education,” Key said. “The state has given us funds for that, based on how many students we have in that continuum of services."
One of those students is 11-year-old Aubrey Girard—a non-verbal student who has been receiving special education services since age 3. She currently attends Magnolia Elementary in Iberia Parish.
Her mother, Leah Girard, said she and her ex-husband, Spencer Odom, have been requesting a camera in her classroom for years—without success. Now, they say, the law is finally offering them peace of mind.
“We’re very excited about the changes to the law that’s basically gonna force their hand,” Odom said. “They don't have an option now.”
Leah believes the cameras could help both teachers and parents better understand behavioral changes in students like Aubrey.
“It could help where either the teacher or I, as her parent, will be able to know, ‘OK, this is what happened, this is why she’s acting the way that she’s acting,’” she said. “Then we can correct whatever that is.”
To learn more about Act 479, click here.
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