More people entering Warsaw Community Schools will have to go through background checks following the adoption of a new security measure.
The change involves expanding the definition of who is considered a volunteer.
Volunteers at the schools have always had to go through a limited background check, and now that definition has been expanded to include members of the media and vendors who provide services at the schools.
Even a recent Ivy Tech class that toured the school went through the background checks.
David Robertson, assistant superintendent, said that change is aimed at anyone who potentially has “prolonged contact” with students.
The past policy only involved people who would be in rooms with students.
The background check for volunteers is limited to criminal history.
Steve Key, executive director and general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, said he has never heard of a school requiring background checks on media members.
“It seems like they’re broadly interpreting the definition of ‘interacting with students,’” Key said.
Robertson said the changes stemmed from an internal audit that looked at existing security procedures.
“Visitor management was an area we thought we could improve on,” he said.
Even though members of the media and vendors are rarely with children in a one-on-one setting, Robertson said the best practices are to perform background checks on anyone who has prolonged contact with children, based on national security recommendations.
The school has already been checking parents who are regular visitors to the school, parents who routinely have lunch with their child, or go on field trips with them.
“We’re considering anyone with regular access to the students volunteers,” Robertson said.
Jeannie Corson, WCS director of human resources, said they’ve performed around 1,800 background checks so far this year.
Robertson added that a criminal history would not necessarily bar someone from picking up their child or eating lunch with them at the cafeteria.
“We realize people make mistakes,”?he said, adding that they were mostly worried about people with violent histories or sex crimes. “We take everything on a case-by-case basis.”
Officials say there is an increased need for increased security.
“Times have changed, there’s just so many more threats out there,” said Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert.
He also said there’s been a big push in the state legislature to increase security for schools, most recently a law that went to effect July 1 requiring a Department of Child Services check in addition to standard criminal background.
Hoffert said that there are more laws potentially in the works for the next session.
Another change also is pending and involves installation of a “Raptor system” at all schools.
Details of that plan will be discussed at Monday’s school board meeting when Robertson gives a presentation.
The Raptor system will scan visitors’ IDs and check to see if the person is a sex offender, has a legal order preventing custody, or has a no trespass order from the school.
Government-issued IDs, including driver’s licenses, will work in the system.
The new policy would represent a significant change.
“Right now we have a notebook in the office, where people just write their name,” Robertson said.
The system also will keep a digital log of who enters a school and picks up children. The system will represent an additional step in the existing way people are allowed to enter buildings.
Currently, visitors already need to be buzzed in by a school employee to enter school buildings.
Robertson said the initial registration will take about five minutes.
Robertson said the point of the system was to comply with laws that prevent sex offenders from coming in to the school and keep an eye out for parents trying to take children in custody battles.
“The safety of our students is our number one priority,” Hoffert said.
(Story By The Times Union)
