Harford County unveils mentorship alliance and adopts volunteer policy
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Summary
The board and administration launched an HCPS Mentorship Alliance to centralize mentoring programs, create a vetted mentor database and a data dashboard; the board also approved a new volunteer policy with non-substantive edits following public feedback.
Harford County Public Schools on Monday launched a districtwide Mentorship Alliance and approved a new volunteer policy designed to support the program and other community partnerships.
Deputy Superintendent Eric Davis described a public application and an individual interest form on hcps.org that will populate a vetted mentor database. "We found your money," Davis said, crediting county grant funds that will support mentor training and initial stipends; administration said some grant funding will cover mentor training costs.
Davis said the alliance will use a data dashboard to monitor mentee outcomes — attendance, discipline and achievement — and provide quarterly updates to the board. He said there were 329 students participating across seven mentoring programs and host sites last year and that administrators hope that number will grow.
The volunteer policy presented later in the meeting had been out for 30 days of public comment. Board members and a public commenter suggested minor edits: explicitly classifying community partners who have recurring relationships as needing memoranda of understanding and adding local, state and federal requirements to the volunteer-guidelines language. Administration said operational details and dismissal procedures could be posted on a volunteer website and recommended keeping some language flexible to accommodate one-time partners.
The board voted to adopt the volunteer policy after a motion by Melissa Hahn and a second; the motion passed on a verbal vote. Administration said the policy will receive a file-based policy number and that the volunteer website will provide additional guidance.
Why it matters: The alliance centralizes mentoring across the district and is intended to expand mentor availability and accountability while ensuring background checks and monitoring. The volunteer policy provides the administrative framework to manage outside partners who work with students.
What's next: Administration said it will pursue grant funding to hire a coordinator to oversee day-to-day mentoring operations and expects to provide quarterly updates to the board. The mentorship signup and partner application are live on hcps.org.
