GUELPH – After several deferrals, trustees at the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) have officially reached a decision on the board’s volunteer policy.
At an Aug. 30 board meeting, trustees once again disputed an amendment to Volunteer Policy 205, which outlines guidelines for community and parent involvement in schools.
The amendment would require all volunteers to undergo a vulnerable sector check (VSC) when working with students under the age of 18.
The amended policy was first tabled in May, with trustees deadlocked in a tie, which is considered a failed vote.
In June, the policy was revisited and once again deferred to the fall after some trustees questioned the legality of whether the amended policy violated any human rights rules.
During the Aug. 30 meeting, trustees once again expressed concern about the amended policy.
“Having looked at what the policy plan is, I feel it’s too severe in some ways,” trustee Mike Foley said.
“I think the process is convoluted for a lot of people in our rural areas.”
Foley noted while it might be a reasonably seamless process in an urban setting, people living in rural areas may have more difficulty getting a police check, with longer wait times.
“I think this will be a barrier to a lot of people that otherwise would come and volunteer,” he added.
Foley suggested the board should look at streamlining the policy, proposing an amendment to require VSCs only for people volunteering in a medium to high level of interaction with students.
“There’s lots of barriers as they exist,” he said.
“I think in rural areas we need to realize that police services don’t have the manpower to effect these things in a quick and efficient and fashionable kind of way.”
Trustee Barbara Lustgarten Evoy, who’s previously voiced her support for requiring all volunteers to undergo a police check, requested a recorded vote on Foley’s amended motion.
“I feel extremely strongly about not putting ourselves as a system in a position where we are more concerned about having an extra parent in the room than we are a child’s well-being,” she said.
Director of education Peter Sovran clarified the amended motion would strike out “all” volunteers and only require those deemed to be medium to high level of interaction with students – at the discretion of the school principal – to undergo a VSC.
“Every group that we work with asks for it from every person,” Lustgarten Evoy responded. “I don’t know why we’re having a discussion.
“I respect that we are, but every group that works with the children that we school insists on them.”
The policy was passed as amended – requiring only volunteers deemed to be in high to medium-risk settings to undergo a police check – with four trustees in favour and two opposed.
