"We welcome all the paperwork," say Doreen and Jeffrey Moore, discussing volunteerism at Cranston’s Bain Middle School, where their daughter goes to school. Both plan to be volunteers. "Anything that keeps our children safe is great."

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

In simpler times, local schools welcomed the moms and dads and neighbors who came in to help at book fairs and chaperone schoolchildren on the latest field trip. All that was needed to volunteer was the time and a little patience.

Nowadays, many schools are following the welcome with a caveat — we’ll call you after we get the criminal background check.

Schools across the country still want parents to be involved, but in this age of school-security systems, sex-offender registries and concern about child safety, criminal background checks for volunteers are becoming the norm.

This year alone, at least three Rhode Island school districts — Cranston, North Providence and Little Compton — have adopted policies that require would-be helpers to submit to criminal background checks.

Others, such as Jamestown, are planning to review their policies.

And many, including Johnston, Chariho, Westerly, Exeter-West Greenwich and Providence, have required background checks for years — in some cases more than a decade.

“I’ve been here for 10 years. It predates me,” said Barry Ricci, superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District. “I think it is common sense. We have a responsibility for the safety of kids.”

Like other states, Rhode Island requires background checks for school employees. But the law is silent on volunteers. As a result, districts decide for themselves what to do.

Running background checks, while it may be common sense, seems to put districts in a classic Catch-22.

At an open house this week, Thomas Barbieri, principal at Hugh B. Bain Middle School in Cranston, told parents he needs them to participate in their children’s educations. He also urged them to volunteer.

Outside the school auditorium, anyone who was interested could pick up the required paperwork — disclosure forms that ask prospective helpers if they have ever been convicted of a felony or crimes related to children, and criminal identification waiver forms, which have to be filled out and notarized so the school can send them to the attorney general’s office for the required criminal background checks.

The cost for the background checks, which reveal warrants, restraining orders, no-contact orders and past convictions, is $5. Cranston’s policy calls for volunteers to pay the cost, except in hardship cases.

Barbieri, who says parental involvement has been vital to the success of his urban-ring school, does not see the new policy as a deterrent.

“It’s a policy that’s going to help kids feel safe. Parents know it,” he said. “If you send a message that we’re going to help keep your child safe, they get it.”

All the same, he is going out of his way to make the new process user-friendly. He plans to provide parents with stamped envelopes that are addressed to the School Department’s central office, which collects the criminal identification waiver forms and sends them to the attorney general’s office. And this month, he became a notary public so he could notarize paperwork from prospective volunteers. “We’re going to make this as painless as possible,” he said. “I’ve got to pull your tooth here, there’s no way around it, but we’re going to make it happen.”

The adoption of stringent volunteer policies can lead to grumbling. Some parents in North Providence have complained about having to go through an extra step just to volunteer, one school official said. Some in Cranston have objected to the $5 fee for background checks.

But most parents are accepting. Some even applaud the policies.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Melissa Lanigan, of Cranston, whose daughter is in seventh grade at Bain. “What’s five dollars? For a one-time fee, just to volunteer, it’s minimal.”

In some cases, people agree the policies are needed but see some aspects as overreaching.

In Warwick, which has no official volunteer policy, background checks are not needed for one-time volunteers, said Supt. Peter Horoschak. People who want to volunteer on a regular basis are referred to Volunteers of Warwick Schools, a group that requires background checks.

Some Cranston parents and school officials fault their district’s policy for not making that distinction. “I understand the need,” said Pam Schiff, a former parent-teacher organization president and one of two parents who sat on a committee that worked on the policy. “I just didn’t feel that there’s enough gray area. If you’re working the book fair and you’ve got teachers bringing kids to you, I don’t think it’s needed.”

Others question if such policies create a false sense of security. Just because someone passes a background check doesn’t mean they won’t do bad things, said Cranston School Committeeman Steven Stycos, one of two board members who opposed the new policy.

Stycos, who wanted to exclude people who help at special events in large group settings, said the key to any policy is making sure volunteers are not alone with students.

“We’re going through kind of an elaborate process that’s going to discourage parental participation,” he said.

While ensuring safety is one motivating factor for screening volunteers, school officials say the policies could also protect districts from lawsuits, should something happen.

Cranston Supt. Peter Nero said the district’s insurance company “couldn’t believe that we didn’t have a policy.”

Not everyone agrees the policies discourage participation, even when they require checks on everyone.

Gina Picard, principal of the Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School, in Providence, said her school draws as many as 30 volunteers on any given day, despite a district policy that requires criminal background checks even for one-time helpers. In fact, Picard, who is a member of the North Providence School Committee, recently led the effort to have a policy adopted there.

She said she pursued the issue after discovering that North Providence had no policy.

“The majority of parents that I’ve spoken to are glad,” she said. “Parents want to know that when their kids are in your hands, that they are safe.”

Picard said she urges parents at her school to get a background check, regardless of whether they plan to volunteer.

Her reasoning: The checks are required, even if a parent wants to observe a classroom.Sample policies

North Providence

Volunteers must be at least 18, fill out disclosure statements and submit to a state criminal background check. Applicants who have not lived in Rhode Island for at least five years must also submit to a national fingerprint background check. Level A volunteers must always be supervised by staff members. Level B volunteers, who may have unsupervised access to students, must submit to a national criminal background check. Those charged or convicted of felonies — or misdemeanor drug offenses — may be prohibited from volunteering.

Providence

Level A volunteers must always be supervised by staff members. Level B volunteers must submit to a national criminal background check. Those charged or convicted of felonies — or misdemeanor drug offenses — may be prohibited from volunteering.

Cranston

Volunteers must be at least 18 and submit to a state criminal background check. Applicants who have not lived in Rhode Island for at least a year must submit to a national fingerprint background check. Volunteers cannot be with students unless they are supervised by staff members; no volunteer can be alone with a child. Those with felony convictions are not eligible. The policy does not apply to parents observing classrooms, guest speakers, performers, student mentors enrolled in the Cranston public schools, newspaper reporters or vendors for school-related items as long as they are accompanied by staff members.

redgar@projo.com