Volunteering Process Now More Stringent for Middletown Public Schools

The city school district has changed the way it allows parents and others to volunteer in classrooms and on field trips, requiring paperwork including a DCF background search.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patricia Charles implemented the procedure when she took over as head of the district on Aug. 1.

"The Middletown School District is implementing a volunteer procedure to ensure the safety of all students," her letter to parents reads. "The procedure requires that school volunteers are prescreened by the Middletown Public Schools and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families."

Now a volunteer packet must be completed, which includes the criminal conviction questions, "are you a registered sex offender?" and "have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

Macdonough Elementary School is among those who sent out an email with necessary documents, that must be completed one time during the school year, as a proactive measure. Forms must be submitted, an email from School Secretary Kelli Swan, explains, "if [volunteers] are ... working in direct contact with students where no staff member is continuously present."

Macdonough fourth-grade teacher Sarah Claffey says staff are hard-pressed to find chaperones for events, like today's BioBuddies Field Trip to the Bushy Hill Nature Center in Ivoryton. That's not to say there aren't as many willing parent volunteers as ever — they just have not completed paperwork which would qualify them to help out.

The Middletown Public Schools' Volunteer Information Form and Waiver of Liability includes the following, which may be off-putting to some:

"You agree to assume all risk for death or any loss, injury, illness or damage of any nature or kind, arising out of the volunteer's supervised or unsupervised service to the Middletown School District, agree to waive any and all claims against the Middletown School District, or its officers, Board Members, employees, agents or assigns, for loss due to death, injury, illness or damage of any kind arising out of the volunteer's supervised or unsupervised service to the Middletown School District."

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