Volunteer

Volunteer Badges

For the safety of CANS students and staff, anyone entering the grounds or building to volunteer at CANS during school hours or anyone accompanying students on a field trip will need to check in first at the main office to receive either a one-day volunteer badge or to show your CPS-issued orange or purple volunteer badge.

There are three different types of volunteer badges: 

1. LobbyGuard kiosk sticker badges (valid the day issued only)

2. Orange volunteer badges, which allow for staff-supervised contact with students (valid for five years)

3. Purple volunteer badges, which allow for unsupervised contact with students (valid for five years)

LobbyGuard Badges

First time or infrequent volunteers can obtain a temporary sticker badge, printed out at the LobbyGuard kiosk in CANS’s main office. Volunteers will need to bring a government-issued photo ID each time they volunteer. After scanning their ID, the kiosk will take the volunteer’s picture and print a badge. The badge must be worn and visible at all times. LobbyGuard badges are only valid for the day they are issued. Anyone wearing this type of badge must be directly supervised by a CPS staff member during their time working with students.

Orange (Supervised Contact) Volunteer Badges

Anyone who will be volunteering more often at CANS will need to undergo an in-person background check and apply for either a CPS-issued orange volunteer badge or purple volunteer badge (see below). The orange badge allows a volunteer to work with students on an ongoing basis while being directly supervised by a CPS staff member. Orange badges are valid for five years.

To obtain an orange badge, volunteers must do the following:

1. Contact Ms. Upshaw
   Ask Ms. Upshaw, Senior Support Specialist in CANS’s main office (phone: 513-363-2200, email: upshawv@cpsboe.k12.oh.us), to fill out a “Security Badge Authorization Form.”

   Please give her your full name, email address, and phone number. Indicate which type of badge you wish to apply for (orange/supervised contact), as well as a brief summary of what kind of volunteer work you will be doing. She will forward this form to CPS’s Employee Care Center. If you have sent your request via email, Ms. Upshaw may not have time to reply with a confirmation due to the high volume of emails she receives daily.

   Please know that she addresses badge requests as they are submitted. If you would like to follow up with her by phone to ensure your form has been submitted in time for your badge appointment (see number 3 below), you can do so by calling her at 513-363-2200 during school hours.

2. Have a local background check performed.
   Local background checks are usually performed in the county where the volunteer resides. Those with less than five years of continuous residence in their current county should double check proper procedures with their county’s officials. In Hamilton County, local background checks can be obtained at the Hamilton County Justice Center, 1000 Sycamore Street, Room 100, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (downtown).

   Hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Bring a government-issued photo ID. The cost for the local background check is $5. Appointments are not necessary but recommended. You can schedule an appointment by calling 513-946-6600. You will be given a printed copy of your background check at the end of the appointment. Please note that background checks obtained online will not be accepted .

3. Schedule your appointment

   Click here to schedule

   Hover over the word “Badges” to see available appointment times and click to reserve the selected time slot. Badge appointments are held at CPS’s Employee Care Center, which is located on the first floor of CPS’s Mary A. Ronan Education Center (Board of Education offices), 2651 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219 (Corryville).

   Buzz in through the middle doors and check in at the front desk before proceeding to the Employee Care Center, further down the main hall on the left. Badges are issued Monday through Thursday, between the hours of 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM. Please bring your printed background check with you, as well as a government-issued photo ID.

Purple (Unsupervised Contact) Volunteer Badges

Anyone who will be volunteering more often at CANS and/or will be interacting with CANS students without a staff member present (e.g., one-on-one tutors, chaperones who will be leading a field trip group independently, sports coaches and after-school activities leaders, other volunteers who will require more independence to complete their tasks) will need to apply for a purple volunteer badge. The purple badge allows a volunteer to work without direct supervision by a CPS staff member. Purple badges are valid for five years.

To obtain this type of badge, volunteers will need to:

1. Contact Ms. Upshaw
   Follow Step 1 under the Orange badge guide above.

2. Perform background checks
   Have a state (BCI) and federal (FBI) background check performed, which includes fingerprinting. You can obtain a BCI/FBI background check directly from CPS by going to the Employee Care Center, located on the first floor of CPS’s Mary A. Ronan Education Center (Board of Education offices), 2651 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219 (Corryville).

   Buzz in through the middle doors and check in at the front desk before proceeding to the Employee Care Center, further down the main hall on the left. BCI/FBI background checks are performed on a first-come, first-serve basis Monday through Thursday, between the hours of 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM. Please bring a government-issued photo ID.

   The cost for the BCI/FBI background check is $50, which must be paid in exact cash or by credit card at the time of your appointment. Any volunteers for whom this cost is prohibitive should feel free to contact CANS’s PTO Volunteer Coordinator to inquire about assistance. The results of the BCI/FBI background check will be available in approximately 48 hours, but please be advised that CPS will not notify you to confirm completion unless there is an issue with your background check that precludes you from volunteering.

3. Schedule your appointment
   Follow instructions from Step 3 above to schedule your appointment.