More Minnesota School Districts are conducting background checks on volunteers.
The procedure is not something that has statewide appeal, but as schools look for more ways to keep students safe, it is something educators are thinking about.
"We haven't seen a rush towards it,yet, but each and every year a few more districts join that group, and I expect it will continue to grow," said Bob Lowe, associate deputy director of the Minnesota School Boards Association.
Locally, school districts are divided. Some, like Hawley and Barnesville require background checks of volunteers. Most do not.
Administrators at several local school districts that do not conduct background checks of volunteers, say they reserve the right to do so, they are careful of the situations in which volunteers are used, and volunteers are people school staff and administrators know - like parents.
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In other cases, volunteers come from organizations that either do the checks themselves or require references.
In Minnesota, school districts are required to conduct background checks of all employees (except student-employees) and have the option to conduct background checks on volunteers.
In North Dakota, there is no law regarding background checks of school district employees or volunteers, but the Legislature is considering an amendment to the Century Code that would require criminal history record checks for employees who have unsupervised contact with students.
