Thanks for the tip, but no luck finding what I need at the school district. There are some requirements for background checks for in-school volunteers who aren't parents, but not the kind of info I'm really looking for.
As far as confidentiality, I really meant the range from gossip items to truly confidential. Being in the school, working with the PTO programs and the staff so much, we often get an "insider's view", so it's not uncommon to learn which children have parents who just can't be bothered to support them, whose check bounced for a product sales, which families are having hard times financially, who needs special instruction, who got sent home with lice, etc. If we are here to help the kids, we don't need to be passing on any gossip about the kids or their families.
Let me take a different tack on this. Do any of you want to collaborate on DEVELOPING such a handout? If so, email me directly (and thanks to those who already have)!
Have you checked the school districts policies on volunteering? We have to go though finger-printing to volunteer at school and cannot handle confidental info to name a few. I am with a Charter school so everything is just a little bit different but I would give the school district a call!
Does anyone have a generic handout for volunteers spelling out general guidelines? I'd like to have a simple document that covers the basics, like:
* As a PTO volunteer, one might be exposed to confidential information concerning students. This information needs to remain confidential...
* Basic cash processes and the need to follow them
* Reminder that all new projects, programs, anything done in the name of the PTO need to brought up at a Board meeting and voted in
* All mail-outs/publications have to be reviewed by the PTO president and principal.
We are fortunate to have a great group of volunteers who work well together, so I'm not combating any problem. This is just part of our effort to document processes. I'd like a simple, non-threatening handout that spells out the guidelines just as a reminder. (Short: 1 page, or 2 at most.)
