TITLE 6 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
CHAPTER 50 INSURANCE
PART 18 USE OF VOLUNTEERS IN SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS
6.50.18.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: New
Mexico Public School Insurance Authority.
[6.50.18.1
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.1 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
[The
address of the New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority is 410 Old Taos
Highway, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.]
6.50.18.2 SCOPE:
This part applies
to all school districts, charter schools and other educational entities
authorized to participate in the authority’s risk related coverages.
[6.50.18.2
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.2 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
6.50.18.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: Subsection
E of Section 22-29-7 NMSA 1978 directs the authority to establish a policy to
be followed by participating members relating to the use of volunteers,
distribute the policy to participating members and post the policy upon the
authority’s web site.
[6.50.18.3
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.3 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
6.50.18.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[6.50.18.4
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.4 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
6.50.18.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: September
1, 2014 unless a later date is cited at the end of a section.
[6.50.18.5
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.5 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
6.50.18.6 OBJECTIVE:
To establish a policy
to be followed by participating members relating to the use of volunteers.
[6.50.18.6
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.6 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
6.50.18.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Regular volunteers” means those persons, including
relatives of students, who commit to serve on a regular basis at a school
district, charter school or other educational entity without compensation.
B. “Spontaneous
volunteers” means those persons who agree to fill an urgent, temporary need
for a school district, charter school or other educational entity without compensation
and who are not pre-registered as a regular volunteer.
[6.50.18.7
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.7 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
6.50.18.8 POLICY
FOR REGULAR VOLUNTEERS IN SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS:
A. Participating member
schools and school districts make extensive use of regular volunteers for many
of their programs. In seeking and
accepting the voluntary services of qualified, interested individuals, the
participating members recognize that they have basic responsibilities to the regular
volunteers as well as to the students and to themselves.
B. Each
participating member shall be responsible for organizing and managing its own regular volunteer program subject to the following
rules. Participating member schools,
school districts and other educational entities shall have in place policies
clearly establishing how and by whom regular volunteers are appointed and the
policies at minimum shall require:
(1) interviewing all
prospective regular volunteers and doing a background check including, but not
limited to any history of drug abuse or drug dealing, domestic violence, DUI
offenses, and sex crimes;
(2) providing all regular
volunteers with a job description, outlining specific duties, time commitment
and qualifications for acceptance as a regular volunteer;
(3) providing appropriate
training, supervision and evaluation of regular volunteers; and
(4) instructing all regular
volunteers to understand that failure to obey the code of ethics and standards
of professional conduct as provided in 6.60.9.8 NMAC and 6.60.9.9 NMAC concerning
the obligations of school personnel is grounds for dismissal.
C. Regular
volunteers shall not be allowed to begin their service until after their duties
are explained to them and they have accepted in writing the following volunteer
pledge. It is my duty:
(1) to deal justly and
considerately with each student, school employee or other volunteer;
(2) to share the
responsibility for improving educational opportunities for all;
(3) to stimulate students
to think and learn, but at the same time protect them from harm;
(4) to respect the confidentiality
of student records and information about students, their personal or family
life;
(5) not
to discriminate or to permit discrimination on the basis of race, color,
national origin, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion or
serious medical condition against any person while I am on duty as a volunteer;
(6) to avoid exploiting
or unduly influencing a student into engaging in an illegal or immoral act or
any other behavior that would subject the student to discipline for misconduct,
whether or not the student actually engages in the behavior;
(7) to avoid giving gifts
to any one student unless all students similarly situated receive or are
offered gifts of equal value for the same reason;
(8) to
avoid lending money to students;
(9) to avoid having
inappropriate contact with any student, whether or not on school property,
which includes all forms of sexual touching, sexual relations or romantic
relations, any touching which is unwelcome by the student or inappropriate
given the age, sex and maturity of the student;
(10) to avoid giving a
ride to a student;
(11) not to engage in
sexual harassment of students, other volunteers or school employees;
(12) not to engage in
inappropriate displays of affection, even with consenting adults, while on
school property or during school events off premises;
(13) not to possess or use
tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs while on school property or during school
events off premises;
(14) to use educational
facilities and property only for educational purposes or purposes for which
they are intended consistent with applicable law, policies and rules;
(15) to avoid any violent,
abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly
conduct when on school property or off campus at school functions;
(16) to refrain from using
school information technology equipment, hardware, software or internet access
for other than a school related purpose;
(17) to refrain from
striking, assaulting or restraining students unless necessary in the defense of
self or others;
(18) to refrain from using
inflammatory, derogatory or profane language while on school property or while
attending school events off premises;
(19) to refrain from bringing or possessing firearms or other
weapons on school property except with proper authorization;
(20) not to be under the influence
of alcohol or illegal drugs on school property or at school events off premises;
and
(21) to report, as
appropriate under the circumstances, violations of this pledge by other regular
volunteers or school employees.
D. For the mutual
protection of regular volunteers and the participating members, personnel
administering regular volunteer programs shall provide a safe place to work and
clear project organization or direction, establish and inform regular
volunteers of emergency procedures, ensure that regular volunteers understand that
their activities create participating member’s liability, and that ethical
standards apply to them as well as to regular school employees. Participating member personnel shall inform
each regular volunteer in writing of the reserved right to dismiss
unsatisfactory regular volunteers and of the established procedures for doing
so.
E. Spontaneous
volunteers are not subject to these rules, but spontaneous volunteers must be
supervised at all times by an employee or regular volunteer of the school
district, charter school or other educational entity.
[6.50.18.8
NMAC - Rp, 6.50.18.8 NMAC, 09/01/2014]
HISTORY of 6.50.18 NMAC:
History of Repealed Material:
6.50.18
NMAC, Use of Volunteers in Schools and School Districts, filed 2/9/2010 - Repealed
effective 09/01/2014.