Kanawha County Board of Education approves purchase of equipment to comply with audio recording law

Jul 03, 2023

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In a unanimous vote, the Kanawha County Board of Education is moving forward with having microphones placed in bathrooms adjacent to special education classrooms.

A bill was passed during the state legislative session, HB 3271, to have special education classrooms and their nearby bathrooms monitored more closely with audio devices.

Charleston residents Craig and Beth Bowden’s son was a victim of classroom abuse by a now former and convicted teacher. The Bowden’s spoke about the incident in front of state legislators earlier this year, detailing how their son was abused in a bathroom.

“There are video and audio recordings in the classroom but you aren’t going to be able to hear anything or see anything that’s going on in that bathroom,” one of the Bowden’s said to members of the Senate Education committee in March 2023.

A purchase will be made in the amount of $117,600 for 49 IP microphones from Mason & Berry Inc. They will be installed in self-contained bathrooms.

Superintendent of Kanawha County Schools Dr. Tom Williams said the county board will ask for a waiver from the state Board of Education at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, because they won’t be able to have the systems installed in time for the upcoming school year.

Regarding the recorded bathrooms, Williams added that parents can choose whether or not their student uses a bathroom that has the audio recording.

“A parent has a right through an IP meeting to opt out,” Williams said. “If a child opts out of having their bathroom visit recorded then a teacher or an aid will take that child to a different bathroom.”

The microphones will always be on, according to Williams.

“It’s better to just leave it on all the time and if a child and parent say they they don’t want that, then that child will be taken to a different bathroom,” said Williams.

The superintendent said the state board of education will vote on waivers for multiple counties on Wednesday.