Webster Groves School District Volunteer Application

Dear Parents and Guardians:
We appreciate the opportunity to partner with you for the benefit of students. Please note that we are working to further solidify and implement the new MO legislation related to volunteers. This work includes multiple components that involve several volunteer groupings. Please note the information below regarding this and share any questions you may have with your student’s principal and/or school secretary.

Raptor: This is a new check-in system from Raptor Technologies to improve safety for students and staff by screening visitors, contractors and volunteers at all school buildings.

Here’s how it works: All school visitors will be asked to present identification, such as a driver’s license, which will pass through a scanner. Parents and other volunteers who visit regularly only need to do this once. If you don’t have a government-issued
identification, we will enter the information manually. Within a few seconds, the Raptor system will check a visitor’s name and date of birth against a national database of registered sex offenders to ensure that offenders aren’t entering a school without our knowledge. No other information from the ID will be gathered or recorded. Once an entry is approved, Raptor issues a visitor badge. Should the system find a match in the offender database, however, the school administrative assistant will receive a notification but no details. Only the assistant superintendent of human resources will have access to the results. You can watch a short video about the new system here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mSng9jzqE

Fingerprinting: Per MO Legislation, we have to fingerprint volunteers who will be one on one with students for any period of time when there is not a WGSD staff member who is present. Should you want to initiate a club or have one on one interactions with students, please reach out to your student's building admin and they will provide you with next steps. The safety of our students is our highest priority. This new system provides the schools a quick and efficient way to identify anyone who might present a danger to students. For additional  information, we've included a list of frequently asked questions with this letter. Thank you for your understanding as well as your support for improving safety in our schools. If you have any questions, please call me at 314-961-1233.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sandy Wiley Skinner
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources

Personal Information

Please select the schools at which you wish to volunteer

Please select the functions from the list below. (select all that apply)

Please select the organization(s) on behalf of which you are volunteering (if not applicable, select "None")

Please read the disclaimer below and provide your signature

Webster Groves School District Student Privacy Statement and Confidentiality Agreement

Student Privacy and Volunteer Confidentiality:

Students in the Webster Groves School District have the right to expect that information about them will be kept confidential by all. Additionally, the U.S. Congress has addressed the privacy-related concerns of educators, parents, and students by enacting the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (known more commonly as FERPA). Among other provisions, FERPA allows the government to withdraw federal funds from any educational institution which disseminates a student’s education records without his or her parent’s consent.

Each student with whom you work has the right to expect that nothing that happens to or about him or her will be repeated to anyone other than authorized school employees, as designated by the administrators at your school. Even when discussing a student with those who are directly involved in a student’s education, such as a teacher, principal, or guidance counselor, you may not share otherwise confidential information with them unless it is relevant to the student’s educational growth, safety, or well being.

You may not share information about a student with others who are genuinely interested in the student’s welfare, such as social workers, scout leaders, clergy, or nurses/physicians (a medical emergency, in which confidential information may be necessary for a student’s care, is the only exception). Thus, you must refer all such questions to the student’s teacher or principal.

Parents, friends, or community members may in good faith ask you questions about a student’s problems or progress. Again, you must refer all such questions to the authorized school employees. You may not share information about a student even with members of your own family or the student’s family.

Before you speak, always remember that breaching a student’s privacy and confidentiality is a FERPA violation and must be avoided.

Additionally, all district volunteers are required to comply with the Webster Groves School District's Code of Conduct, which can be found here. This Code of Conduct, along with Board Policies GBH - Staff/Student Relations and JHG - Reporting and Investigating Child Abuse and Neglect, apply to all personnel and volunteers of the District who interact with students.

Agreement: 

I as a volunteer for Webster Groves School District, agree never to disclose information about a student’s records to anyone other than an authorized school employee. I will refer all requests for such information from those not directly involved in the student’s education to authorized school employees.

Thank You

Your volunteer application has been successfully submitted and will be reviewed per the district’s volunteer policy. In the near future, you will be notified as to your volunteer status. If you have any questions, please request to speak with a Human Resources representative at 314.961.1233.