Interview: Edina Public Schools' Virtual Volunteer Program

Carynn Roehrick was kind enough to pass on her experience as the Community Resources and Volunteer Manager of Edina Public Schools. A few days after we connected, she started a new position as Assistant Director of Volunteers at the local nonprofit Every Meal.

-Rose Maney, Youth Virtual Tutoring Initiative Literacy Leader

How have you navigated utilizing volunteers during this change?

We have utilized a small pool of volunteers and they have been long-term individuals who were already in our system, familiar with the students, teachers, and staff. These volunteers were cleared through our onboarding process (which includes a background check) prior to COVID-19 closures, which helped mitigate some of the additional risk management factors that come into play with students and volunteers connecting online.

How did you coordinate tutoring sessions while practicing risk management?

Since we cannot guarantee a teacher or staff member is online with them at all times to oversee their meetings, we did have to set up a framework that complied with our policies and boundaries.

Tutoring sessions are set up by a teacher or a staff member on a district-approved platform (Google Meet). The link is then separately emailed out to all parties so that the volunteers and students are not sharing personal contact information.

How did you decide what to use as a waiver for your program?

I worked with our District Attorney and our Director of Human Resources to create a waiver permission form. I must retain a signed waiver from a student’s parent/legal guardian prior to that student beginning online tutoring with a volunteer.

What are some of the barriers that you’ve encountered in virtual tutoring?

One of the biggest hurdles has been if a student doesn’t log on during their scheduled time with a volunteer tutor.

Also, the online format presents inequities and barriers for some volunteers with limited personal devices or technology skills as well as students. We are lucky to have the resources to provide all students with a district-issued Chromebook, but I know many schools and communities where getting technology or Wi-Fi access in students’ homes has been a challenge.

Another sporadic hurdle for us has been getting a signed waiver back from students who need volunteer support. I have had instances where students do not have a printer, et cetera, so I have made trips to their homes with a paper copy so that a parent/guardian can sign it for me. Our district leadership has required a physical signature, but I do know that some districts have okayed electronic signatures as legally binding.