Hello! Okay, so I did something possibly kind of stupid and I'm wondering how bad it was. I let somebody volunteer without doing the paperwork/volunteer training and all of that. I didn't even think about it. This person was a friend of mine. I signed her in in the office three days in a row to help with a special project. She was a great volunteer and a good match for my classroom. But today I got called into the department chair's office and she told me we can't have volunteers on campus who haven't done the training. Which makes sense, but I just didn't think about it. She also said this friend of mine won't be allowed to volunteer in my classroom because it would be a "conflict of interests" or some such. I'm wondering whether you're allowed to have volunteers in your classroom who you know outside of school. I'm also wondering how serious it was to allow someone in without doing the paperwork. I know better now, but I just didn't think about it. A little peace of mind, someone?
If that's all the department chair said to you then you probably aren't in trouble for it. If they didn't "allow" it why did they let it happen for 3 days in a row? I'm sure you'll be ok as long as you don't do it again!
I can have anyone I want volunteer in my room as long as they fill out the volunteer form and have been screened to make sure they aren't a predator.
We have to have a background check on file, other than that, it is fine unless it causes a problem. I did have one person come in without the background check, but it was before students were in the building and she had to leave before school started(she had to do a safety audit of my classroom for a college class).
Volunteers (including my dh and sons) were only allowed into my classroom and the school as volunteers after completing the paperwork and being screened. The same goes for a couple of attorneys and a judge that volunteer with me. We are very strict and I'm glad. One teacher had her fiance complete the paperwork to volunteer and he was a registered sex offender. We just don't make any exceptions to the volunteer screening..
All we have to do is have our volunteers sign in at the office. We don't have any paperwork or background checks for volunteers, only for substitutes. We must be pretty laid back. We're in a small town on a military base though.
Our chaperons have to have a background check but for someone to help out around the classroom while the teacher is in there, I don't think we have to do much besides sign them in.
Ours is a state requirement and they send home the notices in the beginning of the year that anyone that will be in contact with students must have a background check on file and that it includes chaperones and school volunteers.
My district won't even allow off-duty police officers or federal agents to volunteer in their children's schools without the "official" school background check. I think that goes to the point of rediculous though. A friend of mine, a former US Marshal and current ATF agent was denied access to his daughter's classroom because he didn't have the required background check done.
Wow....as long as they sign in at the front desk or in the office, anyone is allowed. My dad comes in a few times a year.
I don't think you have to worry - it's not like anything happened while she was there. I agree with the others that if it was serious the meeting would have been more serious. Our school requires background checks for parents who are accompanying children on a field trip. They made an exception for a sibling of a student who just came back from a tour in Iraq, I just couldn't have left her alone with any of the students. Anyone can volunteer in the classroom.
Since January we've had a great system for background checks. All one has to do is slide through their state issued drivers license and the system completes an instant check through about 10 agencies. The really sad thing is that we have probably 14 or 15 parents who are registered sex offenders. They are allowed on the campus to eat with their student or visit the classroom but must be accompanied by an administrator. Yesterday during a "visit" one "father" made a comment to a female student about how "cute" she was...our administrators are now trying to have him blocked from coming on the campus. It's crazy they are allowed to be with other students.
It's a fine line between protecting students and trampling on parents' rights...no matter which way you choose, somebody's getting hurt.
All volunteers and chaperons have to have a background check. However, parents do NOT need to do the paperwork if they are just attending a classroom party or meeting us at our field trip destination. Only designated "chaperons" who might be in charge of a group or be left with kids need to have filled out the paperwork. I have had 3 friends spend the day in my classroom, and none of them had to fill out the paperwork, either, since it was just a one-time visit.
