Wiggins schools won’t require volunteer background checks

So many questions arose about screening volunteers last month that Superintendent Sharol Little did research on Colorado Association of School Boards policy recommendations and policies in other states to put together a whole new policy for volunteers, she said during Wednesday night’s meeting.

Originally, the idea was to find some way to ensure that no one convicted of a felony or misdemeanor was working with kids. People wanted to protect the children, Little said.

After the research, she concluded that asking volunteers to pay the $39.50 for a criminal background check could curtail volunteerism, and the process also could take months, she said.

Instead, the board approved the new policy, which will ask volunteers to sign a statement saying they had never had any criminal record except for traffic charges. A background check will only be done if someone does work with children alone or there is a reason for concern.

After all, Little said, the district does not want volunteers working alone with students anyway. They should always be working with a certified teacher, she said.

Of course, a statement that someone has no criminal record is not a guarantee, but it does add an extra measure of thought before signing, she said.

This might be a bigger issue if the schools were in a big city, where everyone did not know everyone else, but Wiggins school staff do know the volunteers. It could also be a waste of money to do checks, board member Rena Baessler said.

Having volunteers sign a statement would put the liability on the head of the volunteer, board member La Vonne Metherd said.

The new policy also includes a volunteer handbook with advice for those who want to help out in schools, standards for volunteers including good physical and mental health, as well as forms for volunteers.

School volunteers fall into a number of job categories: Classroom assistant, arts and crafts assistant, language arts/reading assistant, math/science assistant, physical education assistant, special activities assistant, exceptional education assistant, special enrichment, general school aide and volunteer coordinator.

One thing the handbook makes clear is that volunteers need to complete their commitments to work in the schools, because they are expected for their tasks.

Those breaking rules will face an investigation and could have their volunteer services terminated.

Trip

Last month, board members tabled a decision on an art honor society trip to Italy and Greece after some discussion. One issue was that the students might not be on hand to take their Colorado Student Assessment Program tests, which impact the accreditation of the district and the schools.

Another question was whether the CSAP tests would have to be moved to after spring break to accommodate the trip.

WHS art teacher Susan Heiss told the board that she had taken the CSAP schedule into account in making plans. CSAP tests are scheduled for March 9-12, with only make-up tests from March 16-19.

If any of the kids need to do a make-up test, they could do so before March 19, when the trip begins.

“I wouldn’t want to jeopardize (the testing),” she said.

Heiss also did not want to jeopardize the trip, which will offer as much education as the classroom, as well as a “lifetime memory,” she said.

The teens will learn about foreign currency, other modes of transportation, languages and culture, Heiss said.

They will miss four days of school during the week after spring break, but by timing it this way they do not miss two weeks, she said.

That loss of classroom time should easily be made up by these particular kids, who are all responsible and “high-caliber” in academics, Heiss said.