All individuals who want to volunteer for WS/FC Schools must register online through the district’s website. Volunteers can register anywhere they can get access to the web - at home, work, school, public libraries, etc. You can register using the link at the bottom of the How Do I Volunteer page. Volunteers must reactivate their existing application each school year to be re-approved.

Each school’s volunteer faculty advisor can view their school’s cleared volunteers. Volunteer applicants must submit their information using the online application through a secure website, which protects their information from being lost or stolen. The online registration system also helps cuts down on the wait time for criminal background check approvals and allows volunteers to make updates to their contact information, or schools/volunteer interests when needed by the use of their chosen login and password.

Volunteer background checks are required for all volunteers with access to students. The online volunteer application also serves as a criminal background check form. All volunteers regardless of their level are screened through the NC Administrative Office of the Court's database as well as the national sex offender database to check for a criminal record. Individuals applying for unsupervised volunteer interests receive an additional national criminal background check.

Upon registering, the WS/FC Schools’ Human Resources department receives screening reports of volunteer applicants and reviews them to determine which volunteers should be cleared or denied. Applicants who have registered online receive a pop-up message after they have submitted their application, followed by an auto-email from the system, (from “emailverification@wsfcsvolunteers”). In order for the application to be processed, the applicant must open the email and click on the activation link, otherwise, the application will remain inactive/unprocessed. The school’s designated faculty advisor/volunteer coordinator and volunteer applicants receive an email from “clearance@wsfcsvolunteers.com” when they have been cleared to volunteer. (Turn-around time varies, but most applicants are processed within 1-5 days). If an individual’s name does not show on your online “Volunteer List”, they should not be allowed to volunteer. If additional information is needed from the volunteer applicant, the volunteer and school volunteer faculty advisor will be contacted by email by WSFCS’ HR. Denied volunteers are notified by WS/FC Schools’ Human Resources. Contact Jennifer Cobb at jecobb@wsfcs.k12.nc.us if you have any questions or need assistance with an applicant’s status in the system. Parents who want to visit their child's classroom or eat lunch with their child are not required to be an approved volunteer.

The volunteer management/registration system runs automated nightly criminal offense monitoring for NC. This way, if a volunteer breaks the law anywhere in North Carolina, WS/FC Schools’ Human Resources will know about it the next morning and will inform the school principal and volunteer faculty advisor if the offense warrants a change in the volunteer's status.

The principals and volunteer faculty advisor/PTA volunteer coordinator will have access to your school's volunteer information via the online system and will serve as the point person for the school. Principals can send their designated volunteer faculty advisor/PTA volunteer coordinator’s names to Jennifer Cobb, jecobb@wsfcs.k12.nc.us to allow her to set up their access code and email in the online system.

School volunteer faculty advisors and PTA volunteer coordinators will have access to the online volunteer system for their school. Central office administrators and the district’s Volunteer Coordinator will have access to all-volunteer information. Returning volunteers should not re-submit a new application; they need to re-activate their current application by logging in at the designated time to reactivate their application, updating any contact information, schools, or volunteer interests to allow the system to re-approve them for the upcoming school year.

Yes. WSFCSVolunteers.com has an email feature, which allows you to communicate with your cleared volunteers. This can be used for school announcements, reminders about assemblies/field trips, school events, or other communications applying to volunteers. However, if you choose to send an email through the volunteer management system, it will not allow the sender to see what was sent. We suggest using the option to download an Excel report for your school’s cleared volunteers; then you can copy and paste the email addresses downloaded from your volunteer list into your own school email when sending correspondences to volunteers.