{"id":1314973,"date":"2019-09-24T18:29:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T00:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=988130"},"modified":"2019-09-24T18:29:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T00:29:49","slug":"citizenship-question-causing-roaring-fork-schools-to-consider-revamping-volunteer-vetting-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/citizenship-question-causing-roaring-fork-schools-to-consider-revamping-volunteer-vetting-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizenship question causing Roaring Fork Schools to consider revamping volunteer vetting process"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Digital finger-print scanning.<\/strong>
Getty Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Roaring Fork Schools might do away with a requirement for volunteers to submit fingerprints for background checks amid concerns about a question regarding citizenship asked by an outside agency.<\/p>\n

One requirement of the background check policy is for volunteers to submit to fingerprints and complete a form. <\/p>\n

Up until October 2018, volunteers could go to the local police department to have that done. Fingerprints were taken manually and turned over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for processing, according to the district memo.<\/p>\n

Now, the CBI requires fingerprints to be recorded digitally through one of two third-party vendors located in either Glenwood Springs or Aspen. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to make an appointment to submit fingerprints, individuals must answer a series of demographic questions, including one that requires a volunteer to indicate their citizenship status in the United States,\u201d the board memo explains.<\/p>\n

Under the previous fingerprint card form there was a checkbox to indicate citizenship status, but it was optional.<\/p>\n

Some parent groups, as well as one of the district\u2019s partner organizations, the Valley Settlement Project, are concerned about the district\u2019s current background check policy.<\/p>\n

Valley Settlement has operated the Parent Mentor program in the area schools since 2012 to help ensure the success of Latino students and provide support to families.<\/p>\n

But any changes made by the school board should not compromise student safety, said Rob Stein, superintendent of schools for the district serving Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s not in question here is the need to conduct rigorous background checks on volunteers or professionals who work in our schools,\u201d Stein said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the process to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far this school year, that program has not begun due to concerns related to the vetting process, Stein said.  <\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our volunteers have said they are afraid to go through a process that feels discriminatory to them,\u201d he said. \u201cOther volunteers who have already cleared the background checks are now standing in solidarity with them and boycotting volunteer activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school district\u2019s current volunteer vetting policy has been in place since 2007 and has not been updated since then, according to a memo to the Roaring Fork Board of Education.<\/p>\n

Some Colorado school districts, including Denver Public Schools, have moved away from requiring fingerprints as part of their volunteer vetting process, partly because of the concerns, Stein said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community has a certain expectation of scrutiny, and we want to meet that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there\u2019s a different process that doesn\u2019t use fingerprints and avoids these unintended consequences, that\u2019s something the board will be looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valley Settlement is also helping the district to research options, and has been talking with other school districts in the state that have similar demographics to the Roaring Fork Schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the community wants children to be safe, but at the same time we feel it\u2019s an important right to have parent-friendly policies in place that remove barriers for people to help out in the schools,\u201d said Alex Sanchez, executive director for the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to have a conversation with the school board to see how we can reflect today\u2019s needs with a policy that hasn\u2019t changed since 2007.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanchez said all of the vetting systems in use around the state require a background check, and that wouldn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool boards do have a choice in how they process individuals in the most parent-friendly way, while still ensuring student safety,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The board is slated to review the policy at its regular meeting Wednesday. The meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. at Bridges High School in Carbondale.  <\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital finger-print scanning.Getty Images Roaring Fork Schools might do away with a requirement for volunteers to submit fingerprints for background checks amid concerns about a question regarding citizenship asked by an outside agency. One requirement of the background check policy is for volunteers to submit to fingerprints and complete a form.  Up until October 2018, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 21:52:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}