Waynesboro Schools processes approximately 800 volunteer applications per school year manually, not digitally.
“Just for context, we have a paper-based system right now,” Waynesboro Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ryan Barber said, “where members of the community, parents fill out a form and they report information about misdemeanors and felony convictions, whether they have been subject to an investigation of abuse or neglect of a child.”
Then staff at the school at which the individual wants to volunteer makes a background check and searches databases online.
“The challenge with that manual process is that it’s very time intensive,” Barber said.
Staff can easily do background research on individuals who have lived in Virginia, but not in other states without searching separately.
“That is inefficient and we miss things, but we also maybe are being more restrictive than we need to be,” Barber said.
Barber shared with Waynesboro School Board at its regular meeting Tuesday night the possibility of making the volunteer application process digital for the school system.
Waynesboro Schools uses Ident-A-Kid, the program that automatically screens individuals who want to enter a school building and lets front office staff know if something in their background prohibits their entering the school and being around children.
According to Barber, Ident-A-Kid also has a screening application for volunteers with two levels. Parents and other volunteers will still be able to choose what activities for which they want to volunteer. But they will have to submit only one application with an annual fee of $9.
Barber said that, according to Ident-A-Kid, 90 percent of parents and prospective volunteers choose to pay the fee, but the school system can also pay the fee.
“Very time intensive. This is going to increase our efficiency but also increase costs, but I think we’ll be more accurate in our responses,” Barber said.
The proposal is for Waynesboro Schools to purchase the volunteer application with Ident-A-Kid in July for the 2025-2026 school year. The school system would receive a template and have options of what questions are asked on the application and what information is requested. Barber said he would share the information with the school board.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff Cassell said that the decision to go digital with the volunteer application process does not require a vote by Waynesboro School Board.
A new volunteer page is ready to go live on Waynesboro Schools’ website.
“It’s just going to level up our work,” Barber said.
The change for volunteer applications is being made after several residents raised concerns in early 2025 with school administration about the process.
“The safety and security of our staff and students is our No. 1 priority,” Barber said. “And, really, the reason why we’re talking so much about this, is we want to make sure that people who are good for kids are around our kids and people who aren’t, aren’t.”
As the school system grows, it needs to be more efficient and responsive to community needs.
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Rebecca Barnabi
