District committee approves amendments to volunteer screening, expands school-level coordination

The Detroit Public Schools Community District policy committee voted to approve a package of policy amendments that, among other changes, clarify how volunteers from external partner programs are screened and how schools will manage volunteer sign-ups and badges.

District staff described the change as driven by a partnership with the city’s program to place “scribe” and other community-based volunteers in schools. District staff said the amendment will allow staff to review partner programs and, in certain circumstances, permit named individuals from those programs to volunteer more quickly after an expedited review.

District Staff Member (district staff) said, “So that's the essence of the policy change, which is, based on certain circumstances, we would review those cases, and then, either I or my deputy would be able to allow that individual or individuals, that have that programming, to, be allowed to share their balance here.” The staff member said the change is meant to permit a faster approval when the district and city programs coordinate.

Board members pressed staff for details about the background-check process and public access to volunteer applications. One board member asked whether city clearance is sufficient or whether the district will run its own iCheck screening. District Staff Member said the district runs its own iCheck reviews and that there is no cost to the individual: “When we do our iCheck review, automatically, the individual is not paying for it.”

Staff described the Galaxy system that the district uses to register volunteers, which is visible at the school level and can show which volunteers are cleared at each school. Schools will be able to create badges for cleared volunteers. Staff said the district will offer a stipend for a school-based volunteer coordinator who manages sign-ups and events at the school level.

The committee’s vote tied this item with related agenda items and the motion carried. Committee members said they will provide a one-page memo to the board summarizing the operational steps and that training for updated volunteer processes could be offered as part of upcoming committee work.

Implementation details such as whether and how the district will accept city-issued clearances for specific partner programs were described as operational choices staff will execute under the amended policy; the committee did not adopt additional statutory constraints or change the district’s I-Check review requirement in the meeting record.

Less-critical operational points, including badge production and who receives stipends, were described as next steps for staff to finalize with schools.