Skip Navigation
Menu

PARENT OBLIGATIONS

As a statement of principle, the St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School community believes that the primary responsibility of education lies with the parents and/or guardians of children, and that any successful educational program, therefore, depends upon positive and active cooperation and involvement by the parents and guardians with and in the school.  Parent involvement presents a positive role model for students.  As registered families of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School, it is expected that families will be involved on a voluntary basis to provide support services, which will benefit the school community and help offset the deficit between tuition collected and the actual cost of operating the school. St. Thomas School families are required to:

Parents Hours
  • Perform 30 hours of service per year or serve on the Steering Committee of one of our major fundraisers.
  • Attend ALL parent club meetings. 
  • Volunteer one shift per child at our major fundraiser; Auction.
  • Participation in all fundraisers as they occur (sells raffle tickets, sell event tickets, catalog sales, etc.). 

Non-participation or failure to complete the required service hours and fundraising commitment will result in alternative terms and conditions for future registrations. 

It is the responsibility of the parent to record completed service hours in SchoolSpeak prior to July 1st. 

Insurance Verification
  1. All volunteers who drive children for school-sponsored activities must be 25 years of age or older and be covered with auto liability insurance.  Current volunteer driver information forms must be completed and left in the school office. 
  2. The privately owned vehicle policy must provide liability coverage on the automobile driven in the amounts no less than $100,000.00 individual/ $300,000.00 cumulative each loss or occurrence, bodily injury; $50,000.00 property damage; $5,000.00 per person medical; and $100,000.00 uninsured motorist insurance.
  3. The number of persons in a car should not exceed the number for which the car was constructed.
  4. All children must wear a seat belt or be secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards as appropriate for their age and weight. Any child under 8 years of age must be secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat of the vehicle (unless all back seats are already occupied by younger children).  A child under the age of 8 who is 4'9" in height or taller may be properly restrained by a safety belt instead of child passenger restraint system.
  5. The school must have a copy of the driver’s license and current proof of automobile insurance for any volunteer who will be driving students in connection with the school activity.
  6. Volunteer drivers must strictly adhere to the itinerary of the planned trip; no deviation is allowed.
  7. Drivers may not bring siblings or younger children.
     
Safe Haven Training
All diocesan employees, and all volunteers who work with children, are required to complete a child abuse prevention and diocesan policy training program once every three years. Our on-line training program, Safe Haven, is offered through Catholic Mutual Group.  Safe Haven is a 3 part video series, which identifies real-life abuse and neglect situations that volunteers and employees may encounter.  The training addresses important topics such as pornography, grooming techniques, social media interaction, and boundary violations.  The training also covers the different types of abuse and neglect.  Each video segment is followed by a short quiz that emphasizes the key learning points of the video.
School volunteers/employees:   https://sacramento-schools.cmgconnect.org/
Fingerprinting

A thorough and formal process of fingerprinting and background checks occurs for all employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children. The request for live scan service form is available in the school office.