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Board withdraws proposal to raise volunteer fingerprint fee and asks staff to explore alternatives
Summary
A proposed increase in the level-2 volunteer fingerprinting fee from $38 to $75 was pulled after discussion; the board withdrew the motion and asked staff to explore options including a donor-funded assistance program or fee waivers for low-income volunteers.
Board members debated a staff recommendation to raise the level-2 volunteer fingerprint fee from $38 to $75 to cover rising contractor costs for background checks. Tom Edwards and others raised concerns that $75 could deter volunteers and suggested alternatives such as a district-managed fund, donor support, or fee waivers tied to free/reduced lunch eligibility.
District staff said the actual cost to process a volunteer background check is about $102 and that the proposed $75 was intended to partially offset an estimated $100,000 shortfall for volunteer processing (this does not include the larger employee re-fingerprinting costs). After discussion and public comment, the maker and seconder of the motion agreed to withdraw it so staff could return with additional options; the board directed the superintendent to explore potential philanthropic or internal funding approaches and to provide more granular volunteer-program data to guide decisions.
Board members emphasized the importance of volunteers to schools and asked staff to consider targeted assistance for families who cannot pay and additional transparency about the volunteer program's size and distribution across schools.
