29 July 2018
 Categories: Business, Blog

According to research, students achieve more success when their parents are involved in their education. One way that parents can become more involved in their children's education is by volunteering their time in the classroom. However, given the fears that communities have of gun violence in schools, schools must establish safety procedures to prevent dangerous situations from occurring in their facilities. 

Fortunately, there are several ways for schools and parent-teacher organizations to work together to make sure wrongdoers do not inadvertently enter the schools under the guise of parent volunteers. Here are a few things every school should incorporate. 

Extensive Background Checks 

For the best in security, extensive background checks should be done on every parent who wishes to volunteer in the classroom. Some of the same types of checks should be done on them as are done on teachers and other employees who work in schools. In particular, the following background checks should be done: 

• child abuse
• federal criminal 
• state criminal

In fact, some states have implemented laws that require extensive background checks for volunteers. Ask your school's legal team for more information regarding any existing background check laws. 

Identification Cards and Badges 

With background checks done, parents who volunteer will need to be readily identifiable as such when they are inside the school building or on school grounds. Identification cards or badges should be worn by every parent volunteer. There are several ways this can be achieved: 

1. parent volunteers are each issued photo ID badges that will be kept on their person and shown at the school office when signing in to volunteer, then worn while in the building or on school grounds
2. photo ID badges are created and kept in the office when not in use. Office staff will verify identification each time a volunteer signs in and the photo ID badge is then issued to the parent volunteers
3. non-specific volunteer badges can be made and kept in the office until needed. As parents volunteer, the office staff verifies identity via driver's licenses or other forms of identification and records the number of the volunteer badges on a log

In addition to volunteer badges, schools should still issue visitor badges for parents who need to be in the school building for instances such as picking up their children from the school nurse's office or meeting with the principal or guidance counselor. Visitor badges should be in a different color than volunteer badges so they can be distinguishable from a distance. 

For more information, contact your local id card service.