our district pays for background checks. does them every yr on every volunteer (and staff). no fingerprints though.
parent volunteers have to pay for their own TB check, once every 5 yrs.
(PRIVACY? anyone can go online and get a background check done on anyone.)
of COURSE you can assume a parent is ALWAYS observed by a staff member,,,but are they? would you want a convicted sex offender working at your school as a parent volunteer? it was in the papers not long ago. 2 cases in fact.
we are all glad that our volunteers are checked. its not foolproof, but at least, they are doingtheir best and their duty to assure as SAFE enfvironment for the kids as possible. YEAH! our tax dollars at work (for the backgrd checks)
I wouldn't have any problem with the checks either, although I think it's terribly sad that we have to resort to background checks to protect our children.
As for the idea of volunteers never being left alone with your child, that's just one aspect to consider. When a volunteer comes into the classroom and works with the children, they are no longer a "stranger". The child's perception is that school is a safe place and the people who are there are safe people. Volunteers develop relationships with the children and earn their trust-key components to being able to easily lure a child away or take advantage of a child when they encounter them outside of the school.
the State of Massachusetts requires "that all schools conduct criminal background checks on current and prospective employees, volunteers, school transportation providers,..and others who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children." These are called CORI checks. That includes all parents who go on field trips (since they will have some responsibility for children).
I, for one, feel a little more comfortable because of it.
Our district in now planning to implement a background/criminal check requirement for all volunteers. The cost will be $20 and the district will not be paying it, the pto an/or its members will. We are not in a wealthy district and I'm wondering how other districts have handled this expense?
Our School District requires all volunteers complete a registration form that also allows the district to do a State Patrol background check on the volunteer. This is a free service to the volunteer and district. It is done by computer and can be instantaneous. The school keeps a list of registered volunteers and the teacher is suppose to make sure that all volunteers in their classroom or on their field trip are registered volunteers. To my knowledge,we have never had anyone refuse the background check.
Just another fyi - in Washington state our county sheriff publishes notices about registered sex offenders that move into our county. Our school also keeps these in a binder and make it available for anyone that wants to see it.
Don't wait until something happens to say "maybe we should do that to". We had a terrible tragedy in our community and as a parent I say don't trust anyone when it comes to your children. I know that sounds paranoid, but open the newspaper and see what is going on in the world. It's not the "spooky scary stranger", it's the guy next door, the father of your daughter's friend, and sadly yes even our clergy.
The background check won't catch everything, but it's a step in the right direction.
We require a TB test. The district pays for it. I think it's a small price to pay for the reward of helping the children. I would gladly have a background check, or whatever else it took to do this job. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
