Definitely something wrong with the website. The sentences are missing letters, so you can't read it.

I chaperoned an overnight trip last year. No one at our school asked for me to take the online training or get fingerprinted and have the background check. The implementation of the rule for volunteers is not being uniformly applied or tracked.

We are in one of the largest upcounty middle schools. It seems like some group or grade is always on an overnight trip or other. The school does rely on parents to chaperone these trips along with teachers and administrators. All the chaperones have to undergo a background check with fingerprinting etc before they are allowed on the trip, so the school is proactive about adding in enough lead time to get these checks done.

Apart from the above, most parents have very little interaction with students on a day to day basis. The parent volunteers who help out at the front-office, sell concessions at school events or xerox worksheets for teachers don't undergo any background check because they are hardly interacting with students alone.

I really think that the volunteer online training should be tracked by MCPS central office via the website and then that information should be sent to the school. To expect the school to track it is absurd. It is busy work for the school with very low impact. MCPS attention and resources should be focused on staff, contractors and volunteers who have access to and prolonged contact with students. This background check should also be repeated periodically.

Anonymous wrote:I used to work at a Montgomery County Catholic school. Doing background checks on parent volunteers did uncover a parent who had a record of a sex offense with a minor. It stopped us from allowing the parent around students at our school.

We also had a strict code of conduct that made being alone with a child in a closed environment such as a classroom with a closed door a fireable offense on the first incident.

Ask your school principal if volunteer training is being checked. According to our PTA president, our school has not been checking. It's the honor system that parent took the online course.

Anonymous wrote:This is why kids are safer in Catholic schools. At least training is tracked, AND it is conducted in a classroom. That, plus background checks.

Safer in Catholic schools?
I'm sure that's a joke.

My child is transitioning from Catholic back to public. I don't think his Catholic school was any safer.
Have you been paying attention to the controversy with Cardinal Wuerl lately? He didn't exactly seem overly concerned with sexual abuse of kids in Catholic schools.

Has anyone done the training and then had their child move to a different MCPS school? How did you get your completion acknowledged by the new school? I did mine in 2016-2017, and first school has them in a big binder in the office that they check when you arrive. But new school won’t have that. Anyone know what to do?

I used to work at a Montgomery County Catholic school. Doing background checks on parent volunteers did uncover a parent who had a record of a sex offense with a minor. It stopped us from allowing the parent around students at our school.

We also had a strict code of conduct that made being alone with a child in a closed environment such as a classroom with a closed door a fireable offense on the first incident.

Anonymous wrote:This is why kids are safer in Catholic schools. At least training is tracked, AND it is conducted in a classroom. That, plus background checks.

Yep, those Catholic priests make excellent chaperones and the background checks are impeccable and oh so honest.

All adults who have access to students whether they are an employee, contractor, or volunteer, should be required to pass a background check and be fingerprinted. Just taking an online course is not good enough.

BTW ask Somerset Elementary about background checks for parents. Predators desire access to children and they can be parent volunteers as well as teachers, coaches, lunch room staff, janators, and security workers. All adults should be properly screened and vetted.