SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES CHECKS

Volunteers In School District Will Be Subject To Extensive Background
Checks In 2001-02 School Year.

BURBANK -- Not just anybody can chaperon an off-campus trip, lead an
instrumental music group or coach an athletic team in Burbank.

The school board on Thursday approved updated board policies on
parent and community volunteers in educational programs and has
already begun implementing those policies.

Any parent or community member who wishes to volunteer as a coach,
music instructor or chaperon for overnight programs for the school
district must agree to criminal background checks and drug or alcohol
screenings, according to the new policy. Mike McDonald, school board
member, said taking precautions with volunteers and full-time coaches
is a necessity.

"Any parent who cares about these programs and wants to volunteer
shouldn't mind being screened," McDonald said. "Kids are vulnerable,
and we cannot be too careful. It's not a problem now, but we don't
want it to become one."

Sue Boegh, director of career education for the school district, said
only paid coaches and instructors had to do drug testing until now.

Under the updated policy, any unpaid volunteer within the school
district can be subjected to background checks and screenings.

"This isn't a reaction to any one specific incident. This is a way
for us to be consistent in our requirements and expectations," Boegh
said. "We are fortunate to have volunteers in our district on a
regular basis, but I think parents find it reassuring that the
district is very strict about this."

The school district began evaluating its policy on background checks
last winter, after a Burbank American Youth Soccer Organization coach
was discovered to have a conviction for felony sexual battery.

District bylaws now state that volunteers in the school district will
have to submit to criminal background checks at the discretion of the
school district.

Drug screenings can be administered for amphetamines, marijuana,
cocaine, narcotics, phencyclidine (commonly referred to as PCP),
sedatives and hallucinogens.

The district may also test for the presence of alcohol in the
volunteer's blood system.