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VOLUNTEERING IN LEXINGTON DISTRICT ONE
We believe there is no better way for you to learn about your child’s school than by volunteering and attending your child’s school activities and events.
Lexington County School District One values the individuals who volunteer in our schools. Senior citizens, parents, grandparents, business partners, community members, and others give their time and talents as volunteers to help our students. The students benefit by getting extra help from a positive adult role model and the volunteers benefit from knowing that they positively impact the life of a child.
Our district continues to grow with 500 new students a year. With that growth, we need and use more volunteers than ever.
We do many things to ensure our students’ and staff’s safety. For instance, each school has a comprehensive visitor management system called Raptor Technologies located at the front desk. This system instantly performs a sex offender registry screening for databases in all 50 states on each visitor every time he or she visits. Each visitor must sign in and out when in a school, regardless of the time of day.
Should the system flag an individual for any reason, the system will automatically and privately alert the front office staff and the school’s administrators. Those administrators will then talk to the individual and work through any issue.
To be approved as a volunteer, you must complete an application and a criminal history screening. For further instructions on how to apply as a volunteer, please contact your child’s school. The approval process can take two to four weeks for completion. Applications are required annually.
All visitors and volunteers must wear visitors’ badges in plain sight at all times while on school grounds or at school-related events or activities.
A summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act can be found here.
Volunteer Application (Spanish)
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General Volunteer Guidelines
- All chaperones must be at least 21 years of age. (Policy: IJOA-R)
- All volunteers will work with students under the immediate supervision and direction of a certificated person. (Policy: IJOC)
- Volunteers with direct supervision are approved once per school year.
- Background screening results are evaluated on an individual basis.
- Substitutes must complete the online Raptor application in order to volunteer.
- Please arrive on time for a scheduled volunteer opportunity.
- Give school personnel as much notice as possible if you are unable to fulfill your commitment. The scheduled event may need to be altered if a volunteer becomes unavailable.
- Discussion with teachers and other staff should be focused on the volunteer work. Please arrange an appointment for a conference if you need to discuss your child’s work, behavior, or progress.
- Discussion regarding students should be limited to the staff member with whom you are working. Confidentiality for our students is very important. Do not speak about specific students or teachers in the community or on social media. If you have an issue with a staff member, please speak with the building principal. If you have concerns about a student, speak with the classroom teacher.
- Report discipline and behavior issues to the teacher.
- Volunteers should speak with school personnel about safety procedures regarding emergency situations.
- Please do not bring other children (students and non-students, including infants and non-school aged children) with you when you are volunteering. Children not enrolled in the class attending a field trip are not permitted to go.
- Volunteers should refrain from using cell phones and other electronic devices during the time they are scheduled to supervise students.
- Volunteers are expected to be role models to students. This includes behavior and attitude, as well as attire, use of language, and use of alcohol/tobacco.
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Field Study Guidelines
- Please only take your assigned students where directed.
- Do not at any time leave the group with your own child to complete the field study on your own.
- Please do not allow a child to leave your supervision with another adult or parent before speaking with a staff member.