Volunteers
Making the decision to volunteer your time and talents can enhance the educational experience of the students of the Southern Columbia Area School District. If you have an interest in the District’s educational programs, an enjoyment in helping students, and a sincere belief that by volunteering, a contribution will be made to the learning process, you have what is takes to be a volunteer! If you are interested in volunteering in the Southern Columbia Area Schools, please contact the building Principal of the school you wish to serve to begin the application process.
The following volunteer guidelines will be in effect beginning with the 2015-2016, school year:
1. The first step to volunteering is to contact the Principal of the building where you wish to serve. Explain what services you would like to offer. Based on what you relay, the Principal will determine whether you should be classifed as a volunteer or as a visitor.
A Volunteer includes but is not necessarily limited to: an individual who serves as a volunteer sport coach or otherwise assists and has contact with children in connection with production or conduct of a play, concert, or other curricular, co-curricular, or extracurricular activity; an individual who serves as a daily, weekly, or other periodic scheduled classroom assistant; an individual who serves as a school sponsored event chaperone; or an individual who in connection with a school sponsored activity has contact, unsupervised by a school employee, with a child with respect to whom the individual is not the parent, close relative, or guardian of the child.
A volunteer is more than a visitor, and normally involves an individual working directly with, having responsibility for, and having repeated interaction with one or more students.
A visitor is an individual whose actions do not rise to the level of a volunteer. As examples, a visitor includes, but is not necessarily limited to: a parent, close relative, or guardian who visits a classroom, auditorium, other school common areas, or private meeting area to make a delivery to, meet with, or share a celebration time with, a student who is the individual’s child or other close relative or for whom the individual is the guardian; an individual who attends a sports event or other extracurricular/co-curricular activity; or an individual who is a career day or other similar speaker or participant visiting to share information with students under the supervision of a school employee.
2. Prior to the start of volunteer service, all persons deemed a volunteer must complete a Volunteer Application which provides basic demographic information about the individual.
3, The Principal will review the application and then interview the volunteer. If the prospective volunteer is approved by the Principal, he/she must agree to submit the following clearances which must be dated no more than one year prior to the volunteer application date:
- Act 34 Clearance (State Police)- PA State Police Criminal History Report
- Act 154 Clearance (Child Abuse) (click on create account)- PA Department of Human Services Child Abuse Report
- Volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania less than 10 years must also secure Act 114 Clearance (Fingerprinting) clearances.
- Volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania for 10 years or longer will complete a Volunteer Affirmation form and do not need Act 114 clearances.
4. All volunteers must complete a Volunteer Acknowledgment and State of Confidentiality form
5. Volunteers who will be, or are anticipated to be, in direct contact with students 10 or more hours/week, must submit the results of a TB Test which contains documentation from an examining physician indicating the volunteer is free from active TB disease.
6. The principal or designee is responsible for collecting all documentation and verifying the legitimacy of the clearances before forwarding it to the District Office. All of the aformentioned forms and clearances will be held by the Principal until all are received. Once this occurs, the Principal will forward the complete packet of documents to the District Office.
7. All volunteers who plan to provide service over an aggregate period of time exceeding four (4) weeks throughout the school year, and/or who provide direct services to students, must be approved by the Board prior to providing services to the District.
8. The District Office will maintain a list of active volunteers and will be responsible for monitoring each volunteer’s compliance with the three-year background check update requirements. Volunteers are required to provide updated clearances every three years so that background check reports on file are never older than three years.
9. The principal will be responsible for ensuring all volunteers are provided an orientation session associated with their assignments. The actual orientation can be led by the principal or principal’s designee.
10. Requests to serve as a volunteer must be approved annually by the principal.
11. The volunteer cannot serve in a building or area of responsibility other than that to which he/she has been approved for service.
