School Volunteers

Published April 1, 2010

Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney met with parent leaders and principals April 1 to review the new volunteer GUIDELINES and procedures.

The following Q and A summarizes the outcome of the meetings:

 

Why do our volunteers need background checks?

One of our main priorities is to keep children safe. Before these guidelines and procedures were implemented, anyone could walk into any of our buildings, offer to volunteer, and could be left alone with a child. We surveyed other Tennessee districts similar to Williamson County and discovered that all of them, except for WCS and one other, required background checks of their volunteers.

Who made this decision?

Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney and staff made the decision. The Volunteer Guidelines and Procedures is an administrative guideline. It is not a School Board policy.

Won’t this move deter people from volunteering?

We have created a three-tiered guideline to protect children and to continue to maintain the high levels of volunteerism that we enjoy in our district. The new guidelines will not affect all volunteers. Samples of the three-tiers include:

Someone who volunteers occasionally and in a highly public setting with little or no contact with students and who are under constant supervision by Williamson County Schools personnel will not be required to complete a volunteer application or a criminal background check. A volunteer fitting this example might be someone working at a school field day or fundraising event or someone working in the concession stand or making an occasional classroom visit. (Tier 1)

Regular volunteers with student contact under constant supervision of Williamson County personnel must complete a volunteer application and a confidentiality agreement acknowledging FERPA (student confidentiality) requirements. A volunteer fitting this example might include a room parent, class readers, front door reception, front office volunteers and single day field trip chaperones. (Tier 2)

Volunteers who have unsupervised contact with students on or off campus will be required to complete a volunteer application and confidentiality agreement and have a criminal background fingerprint check through the Williamson County Schools Human Resources Department or present the school a copy of a background check report conducted by another provider. The fee for the background check will be paid by the volunteer or the PTO or booster club. A volunteer fitting this example would be someone providing one-on-one tutoring, an overnight field trip chaperone or a single day field trip chaperone where there is no direct supervision by a Williamson County School employee. (Tier 3)
Since there are three tiers of volunteers, we believe that there are plenty of opportunities for volunteers to work in our schools even if they do not want to go through the background check process. The background check is only for volunteers who will be working with children in an unsupervised setting.

What type of background check is the district conducting?

NCIC nationwide criminal background check.

When does this take effect?

Dr. Looney has asked school principals to implement the procedure in the current year, based on the schedule of that school’s activities.

Do I have to get a background check every year?

We have structured this as a one-time check that will clear the volunteer from that point forward, with the caveat that each volunteer is responsible for reporting any subsequent events. The background check is a one time check.

Could the district use a background check that was done by my church, another agency or employee?

Possibly. You should contact your church, employer or agency to get a copy and then bring the copy of the background check (rap sheet) to the Human Resources Department at the Central Office, 1320 West Main Street, Suite 202, Franklin. They will determine if your background check is appropriate.

Where do you go to get a background check?

· There are several sites listed on the Volunteer document that you may use. The charge will be $48 because the district must reimburse the company in full for conducting the check.

· Also, the district’s Human Resources Department will begin conducting the background checks sometime after April 19. The charge is $48 because the district is under a State contract.

Why are checks made payable to WCS, not the contractor or the TBI?

WCS has an identification number issued by the TBI and is billed monthly on the number of criminal background searches that are performed using that number. WCS pays this bill. The $48 charge is the fee charged to WCS.

Who determines if someone is “cleared” to volunteer?

The WCS Human Resources Department will receive the reports and forward them to Dr. Looney if a report reveals any criminal history. Dr. Looney will evaluate the report based on the standards in paragraph B of the procedure. The Human Resources Department will be compiling a list of Tier 3 volunteers that will be shared with the schools. Individual schools will keep a separate list of Tier 2 volunteers at the school site.

Is fingerprinting truly necessary or would a background check be a sufficient place to start?

A fingerprinting background check will reveal any criminal history that is in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database that is maintained by the FBI. This is the same check that is required of employees and contractors, This is the information that has been established through appropriate legal due process and can be relied on for accuracy. Also, this is the information that is relevant to us for volunteer work where the volunteer might be one-on-one with children. We have not found any other reliable criminal background check.

Who is maintaining the records?

Our Human Resources department.

What privacy safeguards are in place? Who will be privy to the information?

WCS will maintain these reports. However, the information obtained from these searches includes public records from across the nation. Because of this, WCS cannot guarantee that the information is confidential. If an individual is concerned that a criminal background check will reveal something that they do not want disclosed, they should not volunteer for the Tier 3 work described in the procedure. WCS will not disclose this to any member of the public unless required by law to do so, but Tennessee law does require disclosure of most government records to members of the public upon written request.

Do volunteers get a copy of the report?

Yes, they can ask for a copy.

Can they appeal a decision?

There will be no appeal procedure since there is no legal right to volunteer; the schools can always refuse volunteer work absent discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex or disability. However, the prospective volunteer can certainly talk with the Principal or Mike Looney if the prospective volunteer has any questions.

What about student teachers?

Student teachers must have background checks before they can come into our buildings.