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Statewide clearinghouse will require volunteer background checks; Duval panel weighs equity and hardship options
Summary
The committee added a chaperone clearance requirement that will move volunteers to a statewide clearinghouse level-2 fingerprinting process beginning July 2025, with an estimated fee of about $97.25; board members urged staff to identify disqualifiers, hardship processes, and whether Title I parental-engagement funds or other grants can offset costs for families.
Committee members reviewed proposed edits to chaperone and volunteer policy that will require all chaperones to be cleared as DCPS volunteers and — beginning next summer — to obtain a level-2 clearance through the statewide clearinghouse.
District staff said the state-mandated clearinghouse move will likely include a fee currently projected at approximately $97.25 and that prints may be held in the clearinghouse for multiple years (staff referenced prints being held for up to five years). Some applicants already fingerprinted through state agencies may pay a lower fee if their prints are in the system and the district can simply request access; otherwise volunteers will need to enroll in the clearinghouse process and wait an estimated seven to 10 days for clearance once the system is live.
Board members expressed alarm that the fee could be a barrier to parent engagement and discussed potential mitigation: using Title I parental-involvement funds for partial fee offset, developing a district hardship application or a grant, and targeted messaging via Parent Academy to prepare families for the new requirement. Staff agreed to provide a list of statutory disqualifiers, to develop a hardship process and to investigate whether federal parental-involvement or other funds could be used to offset costs for qualifying families.
The committee also clarified there is a difference between visitors (short, supervised appearances) and volunteers/chaperones (working more directly with students), and said principals may still require school-specific orientations but cannot deny volunteering solely for missing a local orientation if the person has passed district clearance. Staff will return with the disqualifier list, a hardship policy outline and analysis of funding options.
