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Volunteer Information & Guidelines

Volunteer Information, Guidelines, and Requirements

Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is committed to maintaining a safe, supportive environment for all students. To do this, the District follows the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) and Act 15 of 2015 in determining who qualifies as a volunteer and what clearances are required. The District strongly supports the involvement of parents/guardians and community volunteers to enhance the District's educational program by assisting the teaching staff in providing positive and productive learning experiences for all students. Teachers are encouraged to provide a variety of opportunities for parent/guardian and community involvement and to strengthen the partnerships between school, home, and community.

Who Is Considered a Visitor?

Visitors are individuals who enter a school building for short-term purposes that do not involve direct or routine interaction with students. Visitors remain under staff supervision and do not need background clearances.

Examples of Visitors include:

  • Parents/guardians picking up or dropping off their child
  • Individuals attending a meeting or conference
  • Guests at performances, assemblies, or school events
  • Family members delivering forgotten items
  • Occasional helpers whose role does not include responsibility for students

Who Is Considered a Volunteer?

A Wallingford-Swarthmore School District volunteer is an adult who performs unpaid service to the District and has direct contact or routine interaction with students. Volunteers may provide care, supervision, guidance, or support as part of school or District activities.

Because of this level of involvement, all volunteers are required to obtain background clearances before beginning service. Volunteers shall not be asked to assume the professional responsibilities of the school staff. Volunteers may provide assistance which is supportive, when under the direction of a staff member. Each volunteer shall be under the supervision of a designated school administrator, teacher or other member of the school staff.

Examples of Volunteer Roles include:

  • Chaperoning field trips
  • Assisting at classroom or school events
  • Supporting instructional activities or working directly with students
  • Providing or supporting clubs, programs, or enrichment activities
  • Working with athletic teams or extracurricular programs
  • Shelving books in the library or providing office support

Clearance Requirements for Volunteers

All volunteers must complete the WSSD Volunteer Registration and Disclosure Form and submit the required clearances at least three (3) weeks before the event, activity, or start of a season.

Additional requirements include:

  • Volunteers serving 10 or more hours per week must provide a TB test result dated within the last 3 months.
  • As of September 10, 2023, paper clearances dropped off or mailed to any district building are no longer accepted.

For complete details, please refer to Policy 916: Volunteers.

Key Definitions (Policy 916)

  • Volunteer – an adult (individual who is 18 years or older) applying for or holding an unpaid position in service to the District. 
  • Direct volunteer contact –the care, supervision, guidance or control of children and routine interaction with children.
  • Routine interaction with children –regular and repeated contact that is integral to a person’s volunteer responsibilities.
  • Person responsible for a/the child’s welfare –a person who provides permanent or temporary care, supervision, mental health diagnosis or treatment, training, or control of a child instead of parental care, supervision, and control. This includes any person who has direct or regular contact with a child through any school-sponsored program, activity, or service.
  • Program, activit,y or service –any of the following in which children participate and which is sponsored by the District: youth camps or programs, recreational camps or programs, sports or athletic programs, community or social outreach programs, enrichment or educational programs, and troops, clubs, or similar organizations.

Quick Comparison: Visitor vs. Volunteer

Category

Visitor

Volunteer

Primary Purpose

Short-term visit; no student responsibility

Supports students, staff, or programs

Student Interaction

Minimal, supervised, not routine

Regular, repeated, or supervisory

Clearances Required?

No

Yes

Examples

Pick-ups, meetings, events

Chaperoning, classroom help, program support, classroom parties, and Members of PTO/HSA

 

The Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) and Act 15 of 2015, detail the requirements for individuals permitted to serve as a school volunteer.  A Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Volunteer is defined as an individual who has direct contact and routine interaction with students and/or provides care, supervision, guidance, or control of children within the school/district operations without compensation.  

Wallingford-Swarthmore School District volunteers require background clearances.  This includes, but is not limited to chaperoning field trips, assisting at classroom or school events, shelving books in the library, office support with photocopying, providing or supporting an activity or program, working with an athletic program, etc.  See Policy 916 for more information on volunteering.

All volunteers must complete the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Volunteer Registration and Disclosure Form and submit the required clearances before being placed in the school or beginning service as a school volunteer.  Clearances must be submitted no later than at least three (3) weeks in advance of the event, activity, or start of the season.  

Those volunteers spending 10 or more hours per week in a volunteer capacity are also required to provide a TB test result less than 3 months old.  Paper clearances dropped off or mailed to any district building will no longer be accepted, effective September 10, 2023.

Please contact the building administrative assistants for verification if you have previously volunteered with WSSD and your clearances on file are dated within the last five years.  

Background clearance links are required for ALL applicants:

  1. State Criminal Clearance -  https://www.dhs.gov/KeepKidsSafe/Clearance/Pages/Criminal-Background-Checks.aspx. 
  2. Child Abuse Clearance  www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis 
  3. Act 24 Volunteer Affirmation Statement - Click here for form
  4. TB Test results less than 3 months old if you volunteer more than 10 hours per week

Applicants who have not resided in Pennsylvania for the last 10 consecutive years must complete and submit the three clearances listed above in addition to the following clearance:

FBI Fingerprint Clearance - https://uenroll.identogo.com/   (Enter service code 1KG6ZJ) 

All clearances, forms, and test results must be submitted via this LINK.