The Tyrone Area School board and administration have been working for several months on new policies related to booster clubs and volunteers.
\nThat work led to the adoption of the policies earlier this week at the board\u2019s regular meeting.
\nSchool board members have discussed the issue at work sessions and committee meetings. District administrators also held a meeting to allow booster club representatives to voice their concerns.
\nAt a late October work session, administrators floated the idea to limit the amount of fundraisers a booster club could conduct each year. One school board member, Peter Dutrow, expressed concern with that idea. Administrators wanted to limit the total amount of fundraisers per year to three for each booster organization.
\nAdministrators have said some of the policy is being directed by government initiatives including the nutritional value of foods sold by boosters during sporting events.
\nThe adopted version of the policy states, \u201cBooster organizations involved in concessions at school events are encouraged to follow district guidelines as well as the district\u2019s nutritional wellness initiative policy.\u201d Before the change, the policy said booster organizations \u201cshall\u201d follow the guidelines and the wellness initiative.
\nSuperintendent Dr. William N. Miller cited \u201cNo Child Left Behind\u201d as another federal directive that generated hundreds of policies that need to be addressed. Miller said some of the issues haven\u2019t been addressed regarding booster clubs and other issues for eight to 10 years.
\nMiller also expressed concern that there have been internal conflicts or other unresolved issues among booster club members from time to time. He explained that the district is sometimes asked to act as mediator.
\nIn December, the district furthered their work on the booster club policy when a presentation was held for representatives of the many booster clubs that promote a variety of activities.
\nBusiness administrator Cathy Peachey outlined the policy during the meeting with the booster club representatives.
\nShe explained under the policy, organizations would have to submit a general plan of operation for the school year during the summer. The plan would have to include a list of officers, an estimate of annual expenses and disbursements, as well as a proposed listing of fundraising and activities for the group. Policies were also outlined for financial record keeping.
\n Peachey noted, \u201cWe do not want financial authority or anything over the booster clubs. It\u2019s just a matter of us being able to get information.\u201d
\nThe policy also noted that exceptions to the \u201cthree fundraising projects per year\u201d provision would be reviewed and approved by the administration on a case-by-case basis. It was pointed out that concession stand activities and membership drives are not considered as one of the three fundraising activities per year. The rule applies to activities that include direct solicitation of the public.
\nSome booster club representatives raised concerns regarding some of the requirements of the policy. Concerns were expressed regarding a proposed Aug. 15 deadline for having information to administrators. Some booster clubs have not traditionally met for planning purposes for an upcoming year by that point because their activities don\u2019t occur until later in the year. Peachey urged them to consider meeting earlier.
\nWhen the policy was adopted at the board meeting earlier this week, the district decided to place an even earlier deadline on the submission of a general plan of operation. In the final version of the policy, an Aug. 1 date is required.
\nConcerns were also expressed over the length of time required to notify administrators about changes or additional fund raising activities that might be needed during the school year. The policy calls for booster clubs to notify the district 60 days prior to a change or additional fund raising activity.
\nOther concerns were expressed at the December meeting including the length of time it is takes to get approval for use of school facilities.
\nA discussion also ensued about the type of activities for which booster clubs would be required to have insurance coverage. In the proposed version of the policy, the district wanted to require each organization to maintain coverage recommended by the district with a requirement to submit proof on insurance on an annual basis.
\nIn the adopted version, the policy states booster organizations sanctioned by the school board \u201cwill be afforded liability coverage by the school\u2019s policy.\u201d
\nIt noted, \u201cif the activities are approved by the board or are normal and reasonable activities\u201d the district\u2019s coverage would apply. The adopted policy also stated \u201cactivities involving alcoholic beverages are not sanctioned by the board\u201d and the district\u2019s coverage would not be provided for such events.
\nThe board also adopted a policy concerning school volunteers. The policy defines the difference between a short-term and long-term volunteer and sets forth requirements for each.
\nA short-term volunteer was defined as a person who provides service to the district on an infrequent basis and\/or has limited contact with students. Short-term volunteers are also required to work with students under direct supervision of a district employee.
\nLong-term volunteers were defined as someone who provides service on a recurring basis and has repeated contact with students. Such volunteers could be \u201creasonably expected\u201d to work with students with or without direct supervision of a district employee.
\nShort-term volunteers are required to complete a disclosure form while long-term volunteers must submit a disclosure form and have background checks for criminal and child abuse history at their own costs.
\nThe policy provides for reimbursement for the background check once a long-term volunteer has completed 25 or more hours of service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Tyrone Area School board and administration have been working for several months on new policies related to booster clubs and volunteers. That work led to the adoption of the policies earlier this week at the board\u2019s regular meeting. School board members have discussed the issue at work sessions and committee meetings. District administrators also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}