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 Application
Volunteer Policy

Here is some additional information that will help to clarify the district’s Volunteer Policy #916, as it was recently revised:

• According to the policy, principals have primary responsibility with respect to volunteers in their buildings. This year, the principals at Hance, RES and Wexford have assigned the responsibility to coordinate the volunteer clearance process to the school counselors.
  
• Assistive volunteers , as defined in the policy, are not required to have clearances. The building is required to maintain a list of assistive volunteers who have been approved to provide services in the building along with a brief description of the service the volunteer will be providing (e.g. assist with Halloween party, etc.). Assistive volunteers will be directly supervised by and within the sight of the classroom teacher.
• Independent volunteers and volunteer coaches and activity sponsors should:
• Complete three clearances — State Criminal and Child Abuse clearances and Federal Criminal clearance: please search online for “Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance Forms” (the first two forms are available from the school office).
• Receive back the approved clearances
• Complete the Independent Volunteer Application and on the PRSD website (available in the school office)
• Submit to the principal a complete packet including the Independent Volunteer Application and the three approved clearances. The volunteer must submit original clearances for verification.  
• The principal will send the packet to the District’s Human Resources Office.
• Once Human Resources verifies that everything is in place, the volunteer will be approved by the Board and issued a volunteer ID badge.  Copies of the clearances will be made for the Independent Volunteers file; the originals will be returned to the Independent Volunteer at this time.
  

• An individual who volunteered in the past, prior to the 2007-2008 school year and who now would like to be approved as an “independent” volunteer will need to complete this new independent volunteer process.  (The individuals who completed the independent volunteer process and were approved by the Board of Education during the 2007-08 school year do not have to repeat this process.) If an individual merely wants to be an assistive volunteer, that individual does not need to obtain clearances. 
  
• TB tests are no longer required, except for volunteer coaches.  Independent volunteers are no longer required to have a TB test unless they will be providing direct services to students.  "Direct services" would be something akin to a service normally provided by a school employee. 
  
• Once an individual is approved as an independent volunteer, he or she does not need to present or obtain clearances in subsequent years unless there is a break in service of over one year.   An independent volunteer can also provide services in other buildings, with the approval of the administrator of that building, without any further process or procedure.  Every building will be tracking and keeping a log of all volunteers, both assistive and independent, who are working in the building each school year. 
  
• Clearances are required for any volunteer chaperone for an overnight trip and therefore, the volunteer chaperone must be an “independent volunteer.”   Clearances are not required for volunteers who chaperone day trips, unless the building administrator and/or trip organizer determines that there is a reasonable possibility that the chaperone would be left unsupervised with students. 
  
• Only an “independent volunteer,” for instance, would be able to take a small group of children on a field trip to the restroom at the zoo without the teacher being present.

 

8. The training of volunteers is another requirement in the Volunteer policy. School counselors have scheduled Parent Volunteer Orientations at Hance, RES and Wexford Elementary Schools. Both assistive and independent volunteers are encouraged to attend. Most volunteers would attend the orientation in their own buildings, but are welcome to attend any orientation that is convenient for them. Our Volunteer Handbook has been updated and will be reviewed at the orientation.

Any questions should be directed to your school counselor.