Are parents okay with adults volunteering in their children's schools without background checks? Easton Area School District is about to find out.
Easton Area School Board has approved a new policy that doesn’t require temporary volunteers to go through a background check, according to LehighValley.com.
The school district previously had to cancel “trunk-or-treat” events at Palmer and Shawnee elementary schools along with other events that required parent involvement, Parent Teacher Association President Michelle Robertson told Lehighvalley.com.
Now, volunteers who don't plan to be around the students regularly are no longer required to go through a background check or other clearances, and are prohibited from being responsible for the "care, supervision, guidance, or control of children," according to school board records.
For health reasons, temporary volunteers are required to submit either a tuberculin skin test or a statement from a medical provider "that the person is free of or considered low-risk for communicable tuberculosis," according to records.
For volunteers who plan to regularly be around the students, all clearances are required. Regular volunteers are also required to be fingerprinted, unless they have lived in Pennsylvania for over ten years.
Regular volunteers provide direct services to students and spend 10+ hours per week with the students.
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Pennsylvania state law says regular volunteers that come into contact with children are required to get these clearances, but volunteers who are not in contact with children can bypass the requirements.
School Board records of these policies can be found here.
