Background checks for volunteers
Thursday, November 13, 2007

MONROE -- Volunteers including student teachers and field trip chaperones must undergo a background check before they can work with students under a policy adopted by the Monroe school board Monday.

The school district already conducts background checks on volunteers, Superintendent Larry Brown said, however the new policy provides a formal framework as to how checks will be conducted.

"We felt we needed to put a policy together that's going to be very specific about how the process will work," Brown said. "It's a safety issue."

In addition to student teachers and chaperones, the criminal records check policy also includes interns, tutors, group leaders/facilitators, mentors and classroom aides.

Criminal records checks will be requested from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The district administrator or designee will evaluate any convictions or pending charges discovered in the criminal records check with legal counsel to determine if the individual will be accepted as a volunteer, the policy states.

Potential volunteers don't, however, need to worry that minor violations or youthful indiscretions will bar them from helping out.

"The only things that matter would be something that would have an effect on children," Brown said.

The board next will begin working on a sister policy to stipulate background checks on teachers. Brown said the district conducts background checks on teachers, and even on him when he was hired this summer. The policy would serve to formalize that procedure as well.

-- Mary Jane Grenzow