One Arizona school district is taking steps to make sure its volunteers are qualified to work in an educational setting.
Higley Unified School District set guidelines last week for completing background checks on people who want to volunteer at school events.
The school district is starting a pilot program for volunteers, which will group people depending on the type of interaction they will have with students, according to an article by The Arizona Republic. In January 2009, school board members will evaluate the program and decipher how much it will cost the school district.
“The move aligns the district with other Arizona schools that check volunteers’ criminal backgrounds in court records and other public databases,” the article notes. “All volunteers, including parents who help in the classroom, will have to complete a form that includes current employment and criminal history. The district also could choose to conduct background checks or universal screens on parents who look after students on field trips without the supervision of certified staff members.”
The district plans on paying the bill for the background checks, which cost $25 to $60 per check. Coaches, volunteers who help with overnight field trips or any school activity without teacher oversight will have to complete a background check and fingerprint clearance.
In January 2009, parents will be asked to give feedback on the process and board members may define how long the background checks are valid. Another idea is to require parents to undergo a background checked when their children are in elementary school and again when their children move to high school.
Many institutions, such as schools and hospitals, require volunteers to undergo background checks, but there is no law requiring companies to perform background checks on volunteers. While a background check might make a volunteer feel as though their privacy is being invaded, it could save much hassle for those involved.
[...] Arizona School District Requires Volunteer Background Checks [...]
http://schoolvolunteerbackgroundcheck.blogspot.com/
Arizona would be well advised to make background checks mandatory. Just look at what happened to a school district in Kansas, more specifically in Liberal, Kansas.
a volunteer with a known history had access to students in the district for a period of many many years. Just click on the link and read. Sad Sas Story, one that could be avoided.
need background check for field trip
Most company are not performing employment verification and Not only that but what’s to stop employers from doing what
they do today with illegals; hire them under the table. Most
illegals who do work don’t have any kind of reported income.
Employers aren’t paying taxes for them nor are the employees.
This is especially true with small businesses. An employer would
just hire someone and completely skip the step of having to verify their eligibility.
I understand that this is illegal, but it’s extremely difficult to enforce.
In addition to that,
how can we expect small mom and pop type places to all
implement this new technology to even check possible hires when
many of them are technologically
illiterate themselves.
A criminal background check for volunteers is resonable. However, the need for giving your social security number is not. Criminal records are public and accessible on the internet. The requirment for your ssn by volunteer agencies and churches is unnessary and is part of the cause of identity theft. Non fiduciary orginizations have not the ability to protect your ssn nor do they NEED it in most cases.