North East ISD

015910

COMMUNITY RELATIONS: SCHOOL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

GKG(R)

PURPOSE

Recognizing the increasingly important role that volunteers play in education as they help to promote school/community partnership and enrich curriculum, the Board encourages the use of volunteers to complement and supplement educational programs.

CRIMINAL HISTORY
RECORD CHECK

The District shall obtain the criminal history record of prospective school volunteers and shall inform volunteers when their services are to begin. A list will be published and distributed at least monthly from the Volunteer Program to each Campus.

The criminal history record check will be completed on all volunteers who have frequent and direct contact with students. Frequent contact is defined as someone who volunteers at the same school on three (3) or more occasions in a school year. Criminal history record checks will not be completed for individuals who volunteer or participate in Campus activities less than three (3) times in a school year.

The District Volunteer Coordinator shall notify any volunteer who is not approved for volunteer service based on their criminal history record.

DEFINTIONS

For the purposes of this regulation, the word “conviction” shall mean a verdict of guilty, a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere, without regard to subsequent disposition of the case or suspension of sentence, to include but not limited to a grant of probation or deferred adjudication.

The deferral of criminal proceedings by the court after a person has entered a plea of guilt or nolo contendere. 

The legal effect of a plea of nolo contendere is the same as that of a plea of guilty, except that such a plea may not be used against the defendant as an admission in a civil suit based upon or growing out of the act which the criminal prosecution is based. 

Any volunteer applicant who fails or refuses to grant authorization for the District to conduct a criminal history check shall be deemed to have an incomplete application and shall not be eligible to volunteer.

The District reserves the right not to approve volunteer status to any applicant whose criminal history record indicates a conviction for a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, repeated arrests, or other criminal activity judged not to be proper for a school volunteer.

If a criminal history background check on an applicant reveals an outstanding warrant, this information will be forwarded to the District’s Chief of Police for review and action.

The District shall require a criminal history record check to be completed, at a minimum, every two years on all volunteers who have frequent and direct contact with students.

All volunteers are expected to present a valid form of identification each time they enter a school.

This identification may include a U.S. state issued driver’s license or identification card, a Texas concealed handgun license, a Mexican driver’s license or identification card, or a VISA or passport.

A volunteer who is arrested for any felony or any offense involving moral turpitude must report the arrest to the District Volunteer Coordinator in writing within three (3) calendar days of the arrest. If the volunteer is convicted or receives deferred adjudication for such an offense, the volunteer must also report that event to the District Volunteer Coordinator in writing within three (3) calendar days of the decision.

The Volunteer Program Department shall use the guidelines set out in this regulation concerning criminal history record checks to determine if an applicant should be denied the privilege to volunteer based on his or her criminal record.

An applicant who has a criminal record that would preclude volunteering within the District may appeal to the criminal record review committee made up of the Executive Director of Communications, a Human Resources director, the Director for Partners in Education, and the District Volunteer Coordinator. However, this appeal to the review committee is not available to individuals whose criminal record includes conviction of a felony of the third degree or greater in the past ten years or a conviction of an offense that poses a risk of harm to children. This review may include additional documentation submitted by the volunteer applicant. There is no expectation that the applicant appearing before the committee.

If the applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of the review committee, they may follow the procedures provided in GF (LOCAL).

Criminal History information is privileged and for the use of the District, the Texas Education Agency, and the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) only.  To the extent required by law, District employees shall not release or disclose such information to a person who is the subject of the information, under penalty of law and/or possible discharge.  In compliance with the Texas Education Code 22.973(c), the District shall report to SBEC certain criminal records of employees who hold certification.

CRITERIA FOR VOLUNTEERS
WITH CRIMINAL HISTORIES

CRITERIA:

The Review Committee may consider the following factors in determining whether to recommend a waiver of the criminal history restrictions to volunteers:

• The nature and seriousness of the crime;
• The relationship of the crime to the purposes of the District;
• The extent to which volunteering might offer an opportunity to engage in further criminal activity of the same type as that in which the person previously had been involved;
• The relationship of the crime to the ability, capacity, or fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the volunteer responsibilities;
• The extent and nature of the person’s past criminal activity;
• The age of the person at the time of the commission of the crime;
• The time elapsed since the person’s last criminal activity;
• The conduct and work activity of the person prior to and following the criminal activity;
• Evidence of the person’s rehabilitation or rehabilitative effort while incarcerated or following release;
• Other evidence of the person’s present fitness, including letters of recommendation from prosecution, law enforcement, and correctional officers who prosecuted, arrested, or had custodial responsibility of the person, law enforcement officers in the community where the person resides, and any other persons in contact with the convicted person;
• The effect of crime upon the District or, if a volunteer applicant, the effect the volunteer would have upon the District;
• Whether the individual has a pattern of habitual criminal activity;
• The publicity surrounding the actual crime;
• The overall impact of the conduct upon the operation of the school or the District;
• Whether the person is a clear and present danger to other staff, students, or the general public;

CRIMINAL RECORD DECISIONS

DATE ISSUED:  08/19/08