Volunteers

APOLLO-RIDGE VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

 

The Apollo-Ridge School District strongly supports the involvement of parent/guardian and community volunteers. State law now requires that any volunteer who has direct contact with students to have necessary clearances on file with the District. 

 

Please note that clearances on that have been obtained for other organizations (township, sport organizations, scouts, employment, etc.) will be accepted if they match the list below and are within the acceptable time limit. Copies must be obtained from these organizations and brought to the District in order to be on the list. 

 

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) website provides this information: Under Act 15 of 2015 (the Act), which amends the provisions of the Child Protective Services Law, volunteers who are responsible for the child’s welfare or who have “direct volunteer contact” with children at a school— meaning the care, supervision, guidance, or control of children and routine interaction with children  will be required to have background checks.  The Act clarifies that “routine interaction” means “regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person’s employment or volunteer responsibilities.” PDE’s view is that mere visitors are not normally required to obtain background checks to the extent that such visitors are not responsible for a child’s welfare or are visiting the school irregularly and not providing for the care, supervision, guidance, or control of children.  Some examples of situations where such visitors normally would not be required to have background checks would include but are not limited to: Back-to -School nights, parent/teacher conferences, school assemblies, school concerts, assisting with school birthday parties, parent guest readers, chaperones for field trips and dances (so long as not routine or responsible for the child’s welfare), Halloween parades, collecting tickets to sporting events, working concession stands, participating in “Career Day,” etc.  In this capacity, school visitors do not need the clearances.  By contrast, persons who are responsible for the child’s welfare or who wish to visit the school regularly to serve as volunteers and to provide for the care, supervision, guidance or control of children would be required to have background checks.  Some examples of persons needing background checks would include but not be limited to regular classroom volunteer assistants, recess and library volunteers, and volunteer coaches/club advisors.

What forms are necessary? 

 

The Apollo-Ridge School District requires the following clearances:

• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (Act 151)
• Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check (Act 34)
• FBI Federal Criminal History Record (Act 114) 
  • Volunteers who have resided in Pennsylvania for ALL of the past ten years may request a waiver of the FBI Fingerprint Clearance. The waiver form - entitled Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers may be downloaded from the right-hand column on this web page.
  • If the volunteer has been a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the entirety of the previous 10 years AND WILL ONLY BE WORKING WITH STUDENTS IN DIRECT SUPERVISION OF AN EMPLOYEE OF THE DISTRICT, they may sign the volunteer affidavit in lieu of fingerprints.

• • Volunteer Affirmation Form - required for volunteers, whether casual or program volunteers as described in Board Policy 916. This form is available for download from the right-hand column on this web page.

 

Acquiring the clearance documents takes time and we recommend that parents planning on volunteering in the schools complete the process as soon as possible. The documents will remain on file with the District for FIVE years at which time new clearances will be necessary. 

 

 

According to Board Policy 916: Volunteers, the definitions are as follows: 

 

A volunteer is any individual who performs a service for the School District without compensation, remuneration or other consideration and who otherwise meets the requirements of this policy.  A volunteer must be at least 18 years of age.  A volunteer need not be a parent of a student enrolled in the School District.  A School District student who serves as equipment manager or assistant athletic trainer or who provides other volunteer assistance in support of a curricular, co-curricular or extra-curricular activity is not considered to be a volunteer for purposes of this policy. 

 

A casual volunteer is a volunteer who comes to a school infrequently and works in the presence of a teacher/administrator when with students.  A casual volunteer does not have direct contact with children and is not required to obtain criminal history reports or child abuse clearances.  Examples include: individuals who volunteer to assist in the planning or conducting of classroom celebrations; single-day field trip chaperones; guest speakers; and concert/performance ushers. 

 

A program volunteer is a volunteer who: 1) works under the general direction and supervision of a teacher or administrator employed by the District; and 2) provides direct services to students or may, from time to time, have or may be reasonably expected to have direct contact with children.  Examples include: volunteer tutors; chaperones for overnight student trips; volunteers who assist on the coaching staff of an athletic team; volunteer athletic trainers or equipment managers (excluding School District students serving in those capacities); and choreographers, musicians and other individuals who provide instruction to students in the marching band or school musical. 

 

Direct contact with children -- The care, supervision, guidance or control of children by a volunteer and routine interaction with children. 

 

Routine interaction -- Regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person’s volunteer responsibilities. Final determination of a volunteer’s status is the responsibility of the principal or principal’s designee.  

 

How do I get my clearances? 

 

Child Abuse Background Check

Criminal Background Check

FBI Fingerprint Background Check

Please note that Athletic Volunteers must follow board Policy 123.2.  See Athletics page.