The impact of ciminal background checks on the selection of school volunteers as reported by human resource professionals of selected Texas public school districts

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of criminal background checks on the selection of school volunteers as reported by human resource professionals in selected Texas public school districts. Ninety Texas school districts were randomly selected for this study, and results were categorized by the size of the school district based on student population. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A Chi-square analysis was performed to determine if there were significant differences (p ? 0.05) in responses to research questions based on size of the school district. Findings in the study included the following:

1. There was no difference in the school district approach to policy and procedure development based on the size of the school district as it pertained to criminal background checks of school volunteers.
2. There was no difference in response rate based on the size of the school district regarding type of offense, number of offenses, adjudication process, and type of criminal history data search.
3. There was a significant difference (p ? 0.05) in approach between largesized and small-sized school districts regarding the acceptable timeframe concerning recency of offense on a volunteer criminal history record.
4. There was no difference in response rate based on the size of the school district regarding the effectiveness of criminal background check procedures in eliminating potential volunteers who might pose a threat or risk to teachers, staff, and students. The following are recommendations for further study:
5. A similar study could assess the responses from teachers, staff, and/or students to determine if these different education categories possess different perceptions regarding the impact of criminal background checks on school volunteers.
6. A further study could analyze the specific written policies of school districts and determine the decision criteria for each level of offense.
7. This study focused on school volunteers. A research study could specifically focus on the impact of criminal background checks on parent volunteers, or conversely be more general, focusing on the impact of criminal background checks on professional or auxiliary employees.