The school board approved the new policy Thursday night that will be piloted through the end of the year. The district wants to assess the costs, which run between $25 and $60 per volunteer, and plans to survey parents and school staff to determine if this is the path the district wants to take, said Denise Birdwell, a district associate superintendent.
“It’s not a requirement to fingerprint parents, but it is our obligation to fingerprint adults working with our kids,” Birdwell said.
Parent volunteers who work in a school office or help under the supervision of a teacher will now be asked to complete a volunteer information form that includes employment and criminal history. Birdwell calls the form an “honesty check.”
The three-tiered policy outlines what checks the district will conduct depending on how much interaction the volunteer has with students.
Volunteers also will now receive a basic orientation including information on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, first aid and CPR, and guidelines on how best to interact with students and how to avoid false accusations.
The district has been discussing how to change the policy on fingerprinting volunteers after inconsistencies were found on who should and shouldn’t be fingerprinted. The board last talked about the policy in January.
Before this new policy, the district did not fingerprint parents volunteering for field trips or those who work in classrooms, but did fingerprint volunteer coaches.
The district put in place a more stringent employee fingerprint policy last year after a former band assistant, who had not been fingerprinted, was charged with sexually assaulting a student.
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