WHO NEEDS CLEARANCES?
Employees: All Governor Mifflin School District employees are required to maintain active clearances per Pennsylvania law.
Volunteers: A volunteer is defined as an individual who provides assistance in support of curricular or extracurricular activity under the general direction and supervision of a district employee. A volunteer may, at times, have unsupervised contact with students. Examples of volunteers would include, but not be limited to: field trip chaperones, college student observers/student teachers, volunteer coaches, volunteer tutors, volunteer classroom aides, and library helpers.
WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS?
Beginning July 15, 2015 all individuals volunteering in the Governor Mifflin School District are required to obtain the following clearances:
- Act 34 – PA Criminal History Record (PA State Police)
This can be done online at https://epatch.state.pa.us/. You must print the actual certificate titled Response for Criminal Record Check. - Act 151 – PA Child Abuse History Clearance (PA Department of Human Services)
This can be done online at https://www.compass.state.pa.us/CWIS - Act 153 Volunteer Affidavit
(Use this form if you have resided in Pennsylvania for the entire previous ten (10) years. This affidavit must be submitted on an annual basis.
Or if you have not resided in Pennsylvania for the entire previous ten (10) years:
Act 114 – FBI Criminal History (Fingerprinting)
The fingerprint-based background check is a multiple-step process. The applicant must register first prior to going to a fingerprint site. Registration is completed online at Uenroll.identogo.com. When prompted, please enter the service code 1Kg6XN. The clearance must be made under the Department of Education, NOT the Department of Welfare. To obtain these records, a payment of $22.60, in the form of a credit card or debit card, is required. No cash transactions or personal checks are allowed. Once registered, you must go to the designated facility for the fingerprinting process.
YOU SHOULD RETAIN ORIGINALS FOR YOUR FILES. All three clearance reports must be renewed every five years (60 months).
INSTRUCTIONS FOR RETURNING VOLUNTEERS
If your current clearances are more than five (5) years old (Example: Dated June, 2010) you will need to submit a new set of PA clearances and FBI fingerprint report/Act 153 Affidavit to your child’s Volunteer Building/Activity Coordinator. If your current clearances are not more than five (5) years old, you will still need to provide the FBI fingerprint report/Act 153 Affidavit to your child’s Volunteer Building/Activity Coordinator. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL NEED TO RE-SUBMIT ALL OF YOUR CLEARANCES BEFORE EACH FIVE-YEAR PERIOD HAS EXPIRED.
FEES
FOR VOLUNTEERS ONLY: Fees for the PA Child Abuse History and PA Criminal History clearances were waived starting July 25, 2015 per Governor Wolf’s directive of June 10, 2015. Fees for the FBI Report are still required.
PIAA Requirements each year:
A coach must complete a course under each heading, annually, prior to holding practice with their students:
Concussion Training Course (must complete either of the two courses)
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Training Course
PIAA Coaching Education Requirements:
The following continuing educational courses will be required for coaches engaged at a PIAA Member School (Effective July 1, 2016*):
Fundamentals of Coaching
Sports First Aid
Contact the GM athletic department to receive the Safe Schools e-mail to get started on these courses.