News and Information

Local schools check volunteers' backgrounds
Longview News-Journal, By ADAM J. HOLLAND

Monday, October 22, 2007 – Wanted: public school volunteers. Extra time and energy is necessary. Must have clean past or a good explanation.

Every volunteer — and there are more than 1,000 combined — who steps on a public school campus in Longview, Hallsville, White Oak and Gilmer, has undergone a criminal background check through the Texas Department of Public Safety.

While most breeze through the process and proceed to their children's or grandchildren's campus, some are re-routed and personally investigated before being allowed in situations where they will come into contact with students.

In Longview Independent School District, that investigation involves a personal visit with Andrea Mayo, assistant superintendent for community relations and human resources.

"We advocate parents being involved in their children's education," Mayo said. "But our times have changed and we want p>

Among the questions Mayo said she wants answered are the whens and the whys.

"Someone may have written a hot check and in public school, that's not necessarily a deal breaker," Mayo said. "Or you may have been arrested coming from the Texas-O.U. game at age 19, but now you're 40 — with children."

What does break the deal for potential volunteers is a history of convictions for drugs, assault or theft. Convicted sex offenders receive no consideration, Mayo said.

About five people are turned away each year, out of about 500 applicants, in Longview ISD.

"People usually know up front and don't sign up to volunteer," Mayo said. "When I've had to tell people 'no', they understand because I always tell them to put the shoe on the other foot. What would they do in our situation?"

Ore City ISD Superintendent Lynn Heflin said rejections are also few and far between in his district, but he occasionally steers volunteers to clerical work.

"I'll look at an application and think maybe they shouldn't have direct contact with students," Heflin said. "Maybe it's an accusation from a spouse or an ex-spouse. There's no conviction, but still it raises a question mark in my mind."

In addition to the standard background check procedure, Spring Hill ISD also requires its volunteers to pay for and take a one-time tuberculosis stick test. It costs between $11 and $25. Officials say the requirement has not resulted in fewer volunteers.

Most districts spring for the background checks, each with a $1 price tag.

At Pine Tree schools, volunteers and visitors must also go through an instant tracking process each time they come on campus. Through a system called V-soft, a state issued identification or driver's license is scanned and provides alerts on people who may jeopardize campus safety. The setup was $1,700 per campus. It takes less than a minute to run a license.

White Oak and Spring Hill schools have similar systems on their primary campuses, with plans to expand throughout their districts next year. Hallsville will begin installation of an instant tracking system on Monday, according to spokeswoman Carol Greer. Ore City officials said they were investigating the use of such a system.

"Volunteers play a vital role in filling in those gaps," Heflin said. "It's very important and we wish we had even more volunteers. But in today's time, we are kind of cautious about things. I try to think like a parent — if it was my child. But the vast majority of volunteers don't have a problem."