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Link to 2024 Volunteer Newsletter
Boyertown Area School District volunteers play a key role in supporting staff, students, sports and music programs, and other activities throughout our schools. We appreciate your interest in becoming a volunteer!
BASD collects and tracks volunteer information using Raptor, a software program already in place throughout the district.
The Raptor process:- The individual volunteer submits an application/renewal through Raptor using their personal contact information. This application includes an upload of all necessary clearances and additional paperwork as required and outlined below.
- The completed application is routed to our Human Resources department for approval.
- Once approved, the volunteer will receive personal access to the volunteer portal via email to the address used to complete their application.
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Who is required to obtain volunteer clearances?
Why do I need clearances? The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires any person in direct contact with school children to complete background checks. You can read more on the PA Department of Education's Website.
ALL BASD Volunteer Athletic Coaches are required to follow this process.
There is a difference between a visitor and a volunteer.
All volunteers are required to obtain clearances. "Volunteer" is defined as an adult in an unpaid volunteer position who is responsible for a child's welfare or has direct contact with children. Direct contact shall mean care, supervision, guidance, or control of children or routine interaction with children. Any adult who is individually responsible for the children's welfare, directly caring for, supervising, guiding, or controlling the children, is required to obtain clearances. Any volunteer who is present and working with students one or more times per week will be presumed to be a volunteer and must obtain clearances.
Visitors are not required to obtain clearances to the extent that such visitors are not responsible for a child’s welfare or are visiting the school irregularly and not providing for the care, supervision, guidance, or control of children. Assembly attendees, sporting event attendees, mystery readers (who come in, they read, they leave) are examples of visitors.Parent/teacher organization volunteers who volunteer at events outside of normal school hours ONLY are visitors and are subject to their organization's rules.
However, such parent/teacher organization volunteers who volunteer in the building during the school day are considered volunteers under this process.Anyone helping with a school-sponsored event, regardless of whether or not the event takes place during school hours, who is responsible for a child's welfare, etc., must obtain clearances. For example, if you volunteer with the high school musical, this process applies to you, and your clearances MUST be on file with HR in order for you to help.
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Volunteers who serve 10 hours or more per week MUST be tested for TB
The Pennsylvania Public School Code, Section 1418(b) requires that school personnel be tested for TB. School personnel to be tested include employees and independent contractors who provide direct services to students on behalf of a school, including but not limited to teachers, nurses, administrators, physicians, dentists, dental hygienists, custodians, janitors, cooks, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, librarians, psychologists, audiologists and counselors, and student teachers and volunteers. The Department of Health defines "direct services" as those persons in direct contact with students ten or more hours/week.
The TB Test process occurs over multiple days. The test is administered. Wait 48-72 hours. Go back to have the test read. Tests are available through your physician's office, urgent care type locations (as of Sept. 2024, the Gilbertsville Urgent Care provides this service for $30), clinics, and local pharmacies.Pennsylvania law requires the district to receive the TB test* results.
Source: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/school/Pages/Tuberculosis.aspx
TB Test results must be dated within three months of submission and will only be required one time. Unless specific circumstances require additional testing (potential exposure, etc.), TB test results will NOT be subject to the five-year renewal process.
This provision is also included in our Board Policy Item #916.
This provision includes:- ALL new 10+ hour volunteers. The TB test results MUST be included at the time of their new Volunteer Application before final approval.
- ALL NEW Volunteer Athletic Coaches.
- ALL active volunteers who are found to be working 10+ hours per week based on random tracking through Raptor*
The only volunteers excluded from this provision are those who serve less than 10 hours per week.
*NOTE: The system tracks volunteer hours, and volunteers determined to serve 10+ hours per week will be asked to provide TB Test results if they have not done so up until the time the random check is completed. Those volunteers will not be able to serve until the results are received.https://www.health.pa.gov:443/topics/school/Pages/Tuberculosis.aspx
IF YOU REQUIRE A TB TEST, those test results MUST be included when you upload your CHILD ABUSE CLEARANCE. Raptor does NOT have a separate place for you to submit the TB test results. The document MUST be part of your CHILD ABUSE upload.
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Additional Important Information
- ALL clearances, including the BASD Act 153 Volunteer Affidavit, are active for five years from the date on the form or date of notarization (not the date of submission). TB tests do not typically expire unless there is a specified reason for retesting.
- There is a BASD Volunteer email address for questions. That address is volunteer@boyertownasd.org. HR monitors the address.
- It may take up to 10 business days to receive an email response or submission approval, particularly during high-volume submission periods. Please plan accordingly.
- Volunteers are required to sign in and sign out, not only for BASD to track volunteer service hours, but also as an added level of safety and security for you, our staff, and students at each building.
- ALL clearances, including the BASD Act 153 Volunteer Affidavit, are active for five years from the date on the form or date of notarization (not the date of submission). TB tests do not typically expire unless there is a specified reason for retesting.
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Obtaining Volunteer Clearances, Raptor Submissions, Renewing Expired Clearances
Obtaining Volunteer Clearances:- Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Report: https://epatch.pa.gov/home
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- Click the control number to view your results. Click the "Certification Form" link in the center of the page to view, save and print your official Pa State Police Certificate.
- Child Abuse History Clearance from the Department of Human Services: https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home
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- Click "Create Individual Account." The Keystone Key is a user name you create. Follow the site's step-by-step instructions for creating a password. Be sure to keep a record of your Keystone Key and Password, as you will need them to access your results. You will receive an email from the site when your results are available within 14 days of submission.
- Federal Criminal History (2 Options):
- You must complete the fingerprinting process if you have been a Pennsylvania resident for less than ten consecutive years. Enroll at IdentoGo and make an appointment for digital fingerprinting at a location of your choice. The Service Code for VOLUNTEERS is 1KG6ZJ. BASD volunteers may submit fingerprint clearances completed by EITHER the Department of Human Services or the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The link and service code will take you directly to where you need to be for the Department of Human Services process.
IMPORTANT NOTE: BASD Employees/contractors MUST obtain fingerprint clearances through the Pennsylvania Department of Education. This link will take you to more information regarding that process. - If you have been a Pennsylvania resident for the past ten consecutive years, you may submit the BASD Act 153 Volunteer Affidavit in place of fingerprinting. The affidavit must be notarized and uploaded as part of the application process. If you select this option, BOTH pages of the document MUST be included in your upload to Raptor.
- You must complete the fingerprinting process if you have been a Pennsylvania resident for less than ten consecutive years. Enroll at IdentoGo and make an appointment for digital fingerprinting at a location of your choice. The Service Code for VOLUNTEERS is 1KG6ZJ. BASD volunteers may submit fingerprint clearances completed by EITHER the Department of Human Services or the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The link and service code will take you directly to where you need to be for the Department of Human Services process.
All clearances must be dated within five years of registering to volunteer. After that, all clearances must be renewed every 60 months. BASD will always use the date listed on the document, not the date of submission. Unless specific circumstances require additional testing (potential exposure, etc.), TB test results will NOT be subject to the five-year renewal process. TB Test results should be uploaded as part of your Child Abuse clearance paperwork. Raptor does not have a separate location to upload these results.
RECOMMENDATION: Never, ever, ever get rid of your original volunteer paperwork - or at least not for the five years that it is considered current with BASD. We are dealing with technology that can sometimes fail the humans it is designed to help and humans who are...well, human.
Raptor Submissions:
ALL volunteers MUST complete the ONLINE VOLUNTEER APPLICATION. You must upload your clearance documents into Raptor directly as part of this application. Those uploads must be less than 5mb and in one of the following three formats: .jpg, .png., or .pdf. If a document includes two pages or more pages, it must be uploaded as one file. TB Test results should be uploaded as part of your Child Abuse clearance paperwork. Raptor does not have a separate location to upload these results.
BASD does not accept paper copies of volunteer clearances.
What happens next? Once submitted, our HR Volunteer Clearance Coordinator will review the submission, enter the appropriate expiration date, and authorize Raptor to issue a personal user ID and password for the volunteer. Raptor will then notify the volunteer via email and provide the information for the volunteer to access the Volunteer Portal. The portal is available ONLY to those volunteers who have been approved. Volunteer Portal Link
Renewing Expired Clearances:
The expiration date of your Raptor Volunteer Approval is based on the expiration date of the earliest expiring clearance. Again, the date used will be the date on the clearance or of notarization—not the date of submission.
What happens when my clearances are ready to expire? What is the renewal process? Sixty days before your expiration date, Raptor will send a notification. Thirty days prior, you will receive a reminder. Please refer to the instructions provided in the email sent by Raptor. BASD will then review your re-submission before approval.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It may take up to 10 business days to receive an email response and/or submission approval, particularly during high submission periods. Please plan accordingly.If you have any additional questions about volunteering in our district, please contact our HR Volunteer Clearance Coordinator at volunteer@boyertownasd.org or at 610-369-7606.
