Volunteer at ETHS
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Evanston Township High School (ETHS) District 202 welcomes and values volunteer participation in our schools. The following information will help you determine the type of clearances you will need to volunteer at ETHS.
To ensure the safety of our students, all potential volunteers are required to register with the Office of Educational Services and are subject to a criminal background check and screening procedures which are based on the type of volunteer activity and student contact. Volunteers are required to register for each school year that they volunteer.
Board Policy 4:175 requires volunteers who will "have direct, daily contact with one or more children" to perform fingerprint-based criminal history records information checks and/or screenings and to obtain background clearances prior to commencing services as a volunteer in the school district. Potential volunteers requiring the criminal background check must be cleared by the school district prior to starting their volunteer service.
To become a volunteer at ETHS, complete the following steps (if you are interested in becoming a volunteer athletic coach, visit this page):
- If you are interested in volunteering at ETHS, contact the individual department or activity directly to obtain information regarding volunteer opportunities that may be available.
- Once a volunteer opportunity has been identified, the ETHS staff member overseeing the volunteer activity must complete and submit the ETHS Volunteer Registration form a minimum of 30 days in advance of the planned start date.
- Upon receiving the ETHS Volunteer Registration form submitted by the ETHS staff member, depending on the type of volunteer activity and level of direct student contact, the Office of Educational Services will email additional forms and instructions to the potential volunteer on how to complete a fingerprint-based background check, as required. There are no fees to applicants for this service.
- The potential volunteer must complete, sign, and return the volunteer forms to the Office of Educational Services a minimum of 30 days in advance of the planned start date. If the potential volunteer is required to complete a fingerprint-based criminal history background check, this must be done as soon as possible. The potential volunteer must email or drop off a copy of the background check receipt to the Office of Educational Services to provide the tracking number.
- The Office of Educational Services will notify both the potential volunteer and the ETHS staff member overseeing the volunteer activity by email when the volunteer application is approved and the background clearance has been received, if applicable. The volunteer is approved to begin their volunteer services at ETHS upon receipt of this email.
- Volunteers are required to re-register with their staff contact each school year that they volunteer. Former volunteers wishing to resume their volunteer service at ETHS and whose background clearances are more than 3 years old must obtain new clearances.
All volunteers shall abide by the applicable District policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, all sign-in and identification procedures and the confidentiality, safety, mandated reporting and harassment policies. Volunteers are also expected to attend any applicable training sessions as a condition to serve. For liability reasons, volunteers are expected to make alternate plans for the care of family members who are not current ETHS students. They are not to accompany volunteers in their volunteer capacity. Doing so will void their volunteer status and they will no longer be able to serve as a volunteer.
- If you are interested in volunteering at ETHS, contact the individual department or activity directly to obtain information regarding volunteer opportunities that may be available.