August 22 Board Meeting - Volunteer Coaching Update

Dr. Jackie Krause reported at the Aug. 22nd meeting that four more coaches had volunteered. She then asked the Board for authority to appoint volunteer coaches. This authority, she said, would give the volunteers more time to get started, since the Board meets once a month. She would notify the Board of new volunteers at the meeting directly following the volunteers' appointments. The Board approved this request unanimously.

Board Member Pat Hughes asked if background checks were needed for volunteer coaches. The administration said that they currently do not do background checks for non-staff members who volunteer. Cost was cited as a reason for this. Dr. Mahaffy said that he believes the FRG Police Dept. charges $50 for background checks.

Board President Paula Zasadil said that it might be worth a call to the police to see if that is the case. Some Board members thought that background checks may be available to the district at small or no charge, but had not yet verified this with the police department. Hughes said that if the checks were cost prohibitive, that was one thing, but if they were free.....

Board Member Tom Mollet said that money may not be the best basis for deciding to do background checks. "If something happens, and we didn't do a background check for fifty dollars....." he tailed off.

Zasadil noted that many of the volunteers have also volunteered with the Rec Council, and the Rec Council does perform a background check on volunteers.

Dr. Mahaffy said that the district can look into coordinating background checks with the Rec Council.