Volunteering in Our Schools

The information below, has been updated due to the recent changes)

Thank you for considering volunteering in one of our schools, As a result of recent state legislation expanding background checks and clearances for adults in schools and other facilities where children are housed, Salisbury Township School District has changed its requirements regarding clearances for school volunteers this year. All STSD volunteers who will be with students out of the visual scope of the teacher for any period of time, no matter how briefly, must present to the school three clearances before serving as a volunteer: (1) a current PA State Police Criminal Records Check, (2) a current PA Child Abuse History Clearance, and (3) an FBI Fingerprint Check. The PA State Police Criminal Records Check and the PA Child Abuse History Clearance are both provided by the state at no cost, but you need to apply. The FBI Fingerprint Check currently costs $27.50. Volunteers will need to absorb this cost, as no reimbursement is available.

Certificates are valid for 60 months (5 years) from the date issued and must be renewed in order to continue as a volunteer within the district. Please refer to our current district policy.

This change in our practice for requiring clearances will have implications not just for field trips chaperones, and for parents who volunteer to assist with special events and projects at school. Consult your child’s principal to determine whether clearances are needed for your area of volunteer interest.

When applying for clearances, please use this link on our district web page.

There you will find the appropriate links to obtain all three volunteer clearances. Please use Salisbury’s link as there are a variety of links on the Internet and not all are appropriate for our school volunteers. If you intend to obtain the clearances, it is recommended that you do so as soon as possible as we are hearing that some clearances can take as long as four to six weeks to arrive.

In addition to the above, every person volunteering in Salisbury’s schools, regardless of the extent of their direct contact with our students, must complete and return an Act 24(PDE 6004) form. The form can also be found at the link above. Please submit all documents to your child(ren)’s school secretary.

Partnering with parents to provide our children with extension activities that require volunteer assistance is important to us. However, our most important commitment is to keeping our children safe. We hope you will support us in this endeavor. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your school principal.