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Volunteers play an essential part in a school community, adding a wealth of skills, knowledge, and hands-on help to school classrooms, offices, playgrounds, extracurriculars, and field trips.
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Sadly, school districts can also be the target of individuals wanting to harm children. We receive information weekly about sexual misconduct cases in Washington State schools occurring between adults and children. Our excess carrier is currently working on a claim in the Puget Sound area where a volunteer coach sexually abused several students, and these claims are not uncommon. This case may end in a multi-million-dollar settlement against the District involved, and could cause irreversible emotional trauma to the students.
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An established volunteer management program will help ensure that your volunteers are properly vetted, trained and safe to work with your students and staff. With a new school year starting and the introduction of new and returning volunteers back to your buildings, we urge you to evaluate your current volunteer management program or to implement one. Consider the following questions when reviewing or implementing your plan:
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- Does your district have a volunteer policy such as WSSDA Policy and Procedure 5630?
- Is there a district-wide formal volunteer application process? If yes, does the process include:
- Criminal background checks
- Professional and personal reference checks
- An interview that includes behavioral questions
- A check against the national sex offender registry (If the volunteer will have access to students.)
- Does the District require all volunteers to complete the volunteer application process each academic year?
- Does the District provide volunteers with a description of their roles & responsibilities to review and sign?
- Do volunteers sign an inherent risk and hold harmless form with the District as part of their onboarding process?
- Does the District have an established volunteer training program? If yes, does it include:
- Professional behavior
- Boundary invasion
- Mandatory reporting
- Confidentiality (FERPA)
- Expected conduct
- Supervision techniques
- Job-specific safety and liability issues
- Is there a process for documenting volunteer training and retention of volunteer files?
- Are volunteers provided with a volunteer handbook?
- Do volunteers wear visible identification, designating them as a volunteer?
- Do volunteers sign in and out of the building?
- Are protocols in place to ensure volunteers are monitored and supervised?
- Does the District have a protocol for evaluating volunteers regularly?
- If volunteers will be transporting students, is there an additional volunteer driver approval process?
If you answered "no" to any of the above questions or want to learn more, please see the resources below for additional information:
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