Volunteers Make a Difference
Allentown School District students academic and career outlook and health will be improved with the support of community volunteers involved in a variety of activities such as reading to students, helping with homework and acting as volunteer coaches and mentors. There are three categories of volunteers:
- Visitor Volunteers - individuals who will not have extended close contact with students and will not be alone with students. These volunteers are required to follow Policy #916 and do not need clearances.
- Building Volunteers - individuals who will have close physical or one-on-one contact with students, or who may be alone with or responsible for providing adult supervision of students. These volunteers are required to show proof of a negative TB test and the District will ensure they are not listed on Megan's Law website or any other sexual predator database to which the District has access. These volunteers are required, by law, to provide up-to-date criminal background checks as follows: PA State Police criminal history report and Department of Human Services child abuse clearance report and FBI criminal history check.
- Partner Volunteers - individuals who are non-district employees of contracted or neighboring education/counseling institutions who serve as volunteers and who hold current background checks/clearances. These volunteers must show proof of their clearances and a negative TB test.
Opportunities are available to volunteer any time of the day, before, during or after-school. The goals of volunteering with Allentown School District are to:
- improve students' academic proficiency;
- improves student's health and well-being;
- increase the connection between the community and ASD students by increasing the number of community members serving as volunteers.
Anyone interested in helping should contact their local school.
Consider being an ASD volunteer and making a difference in a students' life.
Clearances required are:
- PA State Criminal Record Check(Section 1-111 of the Pennsylvania School Code – Act 34) - This form can be accessed from the PA State Police website at https://epatch.state.pa.us. COST: $8.00 (Note: This cost is waived for volunteers.)
- Child Abuse Clearance(Sections 6354-6358 of the Public Welfare Code – Act 151)–This form can be accessed from the PA Department of Human Services website at https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home. COST: $10.00
- FBI Federal Criminal Background – To initiate this background check, applicants must register online at https://uenroll.identogo.com. For more information click here. COST: $22.60
If you do not have access to the internet or a printer and need physical copies of the forms, visit your school's Main Office for assistance.