District Policy
1105 - School Volunteer Policy
Students/Parents/Community-Washington County School District - Approved 4-18-2006; Revised 9-10-2019
1. Purpose:
The purpose of this volunteer policy is to provide the community with an understanding of schools and the educational process and to enhance the quality of education and student achievement. It is intended to enable the teachers to increase individualized instruction in the classroom and to enhance teacher effectiveness by providing them more time for educational activities and experiences.
2. Policy:
2.1. Volunteers shall perform volunteer services under the supervision of an assigned District employee and shall have the approval of a school principal or department administrator to perform such volunteer services.
2.2. Volunteers are expected to follow the direction of the District employee to whom they have been assigned and to conform to all applicable laws, rules, and policies.
2.3. In accordance with District Policy 1101-2.1.2: Volunteers with significant unsupervised access to a student in connection with the volunteer's assignment will be required to submit to a criminal background check as a condition of service. Until the background check is complete, the volunteer must remain under the supervised observation of a District employee. The School District will maintain and continuously monitor background records until such time as the volunteer notifies the school administrator or a District administrator that the volunteer is no longer interested in volunteering or when the volunteer services are terminated.
2.4. Pursuant to 53G-11-410, potential volunteers who have worked for a qualifying position employer in the last three years must sign a release authorizing the Washington County School District to contact pervious qualifying position employers to disclose information regarding any employment action taken or discipline imposed for the physical or sexual abuse of a child or student by the potential volunteer.
2.5. Pursuant to Utah State Rule 37-1, all WCSD volunteers must receive training on unlawful discrimination, workplace harassment, and civil rights prior to beginning their volunteer assignment. Training must be documented on Form 544 - Volunteer Orientation and Agreement, and signed off by both the employee and the individual providing the training.
2.6. Failure to follow direction of a supervisor or to follow applicable laws, rules, and District policies may warrant termination of volunteer services. Schools are not required to utilize volunteer services, and the opportunity to volunteer may be denied for any reason at the sole discretion of school administration. Volunteers must not be utilized where their presence is considered disruptive to the educational environment of the school.
3. Procedure:
3.1. Definitions:
3.1.1. Volunteer: Has the meaning given that term in Utah Code 67-20-2(3).
3.1.2. Approval of volunteer: A volunteer may not donate any service to any school unless the volunteer's services are approved by the principal of that school or designee using District Form 544, in accordance with Utah Code Section 67-20-4.
3.1.3. Qualifying Position: Paid employment that requires the employee to directly care for, supervise, control, or have custody of a child.
3.1.4. Employee Volunteer: Employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must not be allowed to perform duties as described in their position description or as an extension of their employment as a volunteer. Work not requested but "suffered or permitted" is defined as compensable time under 29 C.F.R.785.11.
3.2. All persons interested in providing volunteer services must complete Form 544 - Volunteer Orientation and Agreement.
3.3. The school administrator or designee must authorize and sign Form 544 - Volunteer Orientation and Agreement.
3.4. The assigned school will be responsible for providing all volunteers with information regarding assignment, safety, privacy, security, school policies, and accessible areas in school.
3.5. All information on volunteers will be retained at the school where services are provided and will be readily accessible to the District Office if needed.
3.6. School administration must submit the volunteer for a Criminal Background at the District Office when the volunteer is expected to have unsupervised access to a student in connection with the volunteer's assignment before the unsupervised access is granted.
3.7. School administration must notify the District if a volunteer has submitted to a background check and has subsequently resigned, been terminated by the school or District, or has otherwise stopped volunteering. The District will remove the names of all volunteers from the Rap Back monitoring system upon notification from school administration or when the volunteer notifies the District directly that they will no longer perform volunteer services for the District.