Dear Parents, 

This is the time of the year when many of you are going through the process to receive a regular volunteer badge. MVWSD welcomes parents and guardians as volunteers. We are grateful for the effort and time you take from your life at home and work to spend at our schools supporting our students and teachers. 

MVWSD’s volunteer safety requirements are a holistic approach to ensure students’ safety and to comply with state law and educational requirements. To give some background, MVWSD has been working to improve safety for many years. Most recently in 2022-23, our district reviewed all of its emergency practices, including how visiting adults are accounted for on our campuses. A security consultant completed on-site school safety audits at every location. We also collected data from surveys and interviews with parents, staff and middle school students. Our Safety Advisory Task Force, with parents and staff representatives, worked to funnel all of this data into safety priorities, both long- and short-term efforts. In 2023, we implemented both new and improved safety practices and overhauled our comprehensive school safety plan. Taken together, our protocols create the safe and orderly environment we all want for our schools. 

I have heard from several of you recently that the intensity and frequency of the volunteer application process, specifically background checks and child abuse training, seem inconvenient and even overwhelming at times. I hear your request for MVWSD to streamline the volunteer process to reduce the burden on parents to obtain a volunteer badge, while maintaining a safe environment at school. 

I am confident we can make the volunteer process better, and we will be working on it. Since the school year is underway, MVWSD is not able to make major changes to volunteer procedures now. Please look for us to be asking for input from you soon about strengths and areas of improvement in the current process, so that we may adjust the process for next year and make it run more smoothly.

Here are a few points of clarification:

Mandated Reporter training for regular volunteers is crucial in order for adults to be able to spot and report concerns about abuse and neglect of children. This training is critical for MVWSD’s compliance and for the safety of our children. We understand that there may be different interpretations of this as a legal requirement; however, that doesn’t change our intent to require training that will ultimately protect our students' safety.

Only regular volunteers have to complete a process to receive a badge. These are volunteers who are on campus more than 3 times a school year for more than 10 min each visit, or plan to be overnight trip chaperones. They are typically long-term volunteers. Check mvwsd.org/volunteers for an overview of the process.

Parents who come to assemblies and parent programs at their child’s school are not considered volunteers, and their invitation to attend the program does not count as one of their 3 instances of volunteering.  They are considered visitors and would simply check in at the office with valid ID.

We can help you with the cost of volunteering, if needed. You can complete the state-approved volunteer training at MVWSD for free (see your email for dates), or with another organization (such as church or scouts). 

If you haven’t had your fingerprints done yet at MVWSD, come to Castro Elementary on Friday morning. Sign up here to complete the fingerprinting portion of the process. Bring a check or money order payable to “MVWSD” for $70. No cash or credit card. If you are income-eligible, you can get fingerprints for free. Please speak with your principal before you come. Fingerprints do not have to be done annually.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas. Thank you for your patience as we refine this process. And most importantly, thank you for working with us to ensure our campuses are safe for all of our students and staff.

Respectfully,

Tara Vikjord

Chief Human Relations Officer