School Studying How
To Screen Volunteers
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch

The Randolph Elementary School board on April 5 continued its discussion on whether to do criminal background checks on school volunteers.

New board member Wally Caswell was welcomed to the board and was given the job of representing the board at support staff negotiations, when they start up.

Matt Poirier, who was reëlected as board chair, told The Herald that the entire supervisory union is discussing the issue of how thoroughly to screen school volunteers.

The issue came to the forefront in February, when Randolph Elementary School officials learned that a parent volunteer had not divulged that he was under probation, related to a conviction on a charge of prohibited acts with a minor child.

Although all schools in the Orange Southwest Supervisory Union routinely do criminal background checks for new hires, as required by state law, volunteers have not been subjected to that level of review.

Poirier noted that two parents came to the board’s March meeting and urged school officials to do more.

At that meeting, administrators were instructed to research what other districts do. Poirier said on April 5, the RES board looked over the policy in place at Burlington schools. That policy, he said, provided OSSU with "a good starting point."

The next step, he said, would be for the OSSU cabinet, with administrators from all the district’s schools, to develop a draft policy for adoption here.

Poirier said it was likely that OSSU would "tighten its belt," and add some sort of screening, but that it would probably be a few months before a policy was finalized.

OSSU board members and administrators, he said, are trying to strike a balance between keeping local schools open to their communities, while keeping children safe.

Welcome Mat

The board also agreed, at its April 5 meeting, that it would accept any and all tuition students that the towns of Hancock or Granville might want to send to Randolph Elementary School.

At their respective town meetings, those two towns adopted reduced school budgets that would necessitate closing their small schools. However, since then, there has been a citizen movement to keep the schools open.

Poirier noted that, given the distances, it was unlikely that many of the combined 37 students from those schools would end up in Randolph.

East Granville students normally attend Braintree Elementary School. The only other students for whom it might work, Poirier said, was for those whose parents work in Randolph.

Reorganization

At its April 5 meeting, RES board member Brooke Dingledine was elected vice-chair, succeeding Gerry Tallman, who stepped down from the board this year.

The only other change was the addition of Anne Black Cone to the trio of board members who are also voting members of the OSSU board.

The board will continue to meet on the first Thursday of each month, with the exception of May.

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