Lincoln Public Schools

Dear Volunteers and Potential Volunteers,

Thank you for your interest in volunteering in the Lincoln Public Schools. The Lincoln Public Schools appreciates the volunteers who do so much for our students and teachers each and every day.

Rhode Island General Laws §16-2-18.4 now requires all school volunteers to undergo a state criminal background check before they can volunteer in any public school in Lincoln. This means that criminal background checks must be provided by every volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering in Lincoln Schools, (i.e. chaperoning field trips, table hosting, reading to a class), you must go to the Lincoln Police Station, the North;Scituate State Police Headquarters or the RI Attorney General’s Bureau of;Criminal Identification office, to apply for the statewide criminal background check.

The Lincoln Police will perform the background check without an appointment, free of charge for Lincoln residents. If you do the background check at the State Police Headquarters or the RI Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification office, the cost for the background check is $5.00 and must be paid by the volunteer when requesting the background check.

Please note that the sealed document from the police department will be sent to you up to a week after you request the background check and will state whether the background check is clean.  If the background check is not clean, the document will state that there is disqualifying information, without disclosing the nature of the disqualifying information. For a list of offenses that are considered, “disqualifying information,” please see Rhode Island General Laws Sections 23-17-37, 11-37-8.1, and 11-37-8.3.

Please understand that the Attorney General’s Office does not accept cash so you must bring a check or a money order.  The North Scituate State Police Headquarters requires an appointment for a criminal background check so you must call 401-444-1110.

You are advised to obtain a BCI check as soon as possible and keep in mind that it could take up to a week for you to receive the document. You only need one background check to work in all of the Lincoln’s Schools. Please give the original form to your principal who will forward it to Central Administration for recording. A database of approved volunteers will be available for every school so if you have children in other schools, the principal will confirm your status through the database.

Again, please note that you must obtain a BCI check PRIOR to volunteering in our schools. Therefore, we encourage you to obtain a BCI as soon as possible.

Thank you for your cooperation. Please do not hesitate to call the school office or the Lincoln Police at 401-333-1111 if you have any questions.

ver 08/20/2014