Pinellas County Schools is adding an extra layer of safety for students. All volunteers must now receive a Level 2 background screening.
“Pinellas County and the state as a whole has really done a great job of making everything safer for students within our schools, from locking our gates to making sure people are entering through the front door,” said PCS director of strategic partnerships Mistine Dawe. “It was just another area where we saw there were some gaps and we wanted to make sure we were addressing them.”
Since Jan. 1, all new volunteers are required to undergo a Level 2 screening. Current Level 1 volunteers have until the end of June to update their records. By the 2026-2027 academic year, all volunteers will have a Level 2 status, she added.
An email was sent to PCS’s approximately 25,000 active volunteers in December to inform them of the change.
Dawe explained that Level 1 screenings are based on court records and check for previous arrests. However, Level 1 volunteers are not in a system that continuously updates arrest records.
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Thus, they must be monitored by a staff member or Level 2 volunteer when on school property.
“Right now, there is a substantial burden on our schools,” she said. “It can be tricky to make sure that we have that coverage for our Level 1 volunteers.”
Level 2 screenings require fingerprinting. This allows the PCS team to receive automatic arrest records if a volunteer is taken into custody.
Dawe and her team began to work on the initiative in July. They were able to meet with the PCS School Board in November.
“It did give us enough time to look at all of the implications,” she explained, “and how we can make sure that it did not negatively impact people who might have a financial hardship.”
People who want to volunteer will have to pay approximately $75 to $90 for a Level 2 screening. However, there are options for individuals who live on a fixed income.
Volunteers at Title 1 schools, or institutions where many of the students come from low-income households, are eligible to receive funding from PCS. Over 90 of the schools that PCS oversees are Title 1 designated, Dawe added.
Through a partnership with the Pinellas Education Foundation, student mentors are able to receive financial assistance as well. Additionally, there are multiple community organizations that have provided PCS with funding which can be used towards screenings.
The changes do not apply to staff or students who are also volunteers, she said.
“As we navigate through this, if anyone has questions or concerns, I want people to feel comfortable calling our office so we can help, explain things and work with anyone who is having difficulty becoming a volunteer.”
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