Goddard parent meets district after sex offender volunteered on trip
A Goddard parent is pressing district leaders after learning a registered sex offender volunteered on a recent Clark Davidson Elementary field trip. Amanda White, who has two students at the school, said she first contacted principal Allison Ebert and later agreed to meet district representatives on June 2.
Goddard Public Schools said the person was listed on the Kansas sex offender registry and participated as a parent volunteer during the trip. The district said it did not know that information before or during the event and said no incidents were reported during the trip itself.
White’s conversation with Ebert
White said Ebert told her there should be systems in place that flag registered offenders when they sign up to volunteer. White described the screening issue this way: “(Ebert) informed me that there should be systems in place that flag them when these things occur, when these people sign up that are registered offenders if they’re in the system,”
White also posted a video on social media to educate parents on how to protect their children. She said she is using the incident to push for changes after early-year attempts to pass legislation limiting certain sex offenders from being on school property and participating in school functions failed.
District review at Clark Davidson
In its statement, the district said it will review its current volunteer procedures and investigate additional safety measures and safeguards related to volunteer participation. It also said, “Community members who raise safety concerns play an important role in helping provide a safe learning environment for all students, and we encourage anyone with information relevant to student safety to continue reaching out.”
The district added, “The safety of our students remains our highest priority, and we are committed to continually reviewing and strengthening our practices to support a safe learning environment.” White said, “At the end of the day my goal is to make change,” and added, “And while I’m not happy it took this long to make change, we’re making change.”
June 2 meeting
White is set to meet with district representatives on June 2 to discuss how similar cases should be handled in the future. She also plans to present her concerns at the south central Kansas legislative public forum at the Advanced Learning Library on Thursday night, where state lawmakers and Goddard superintendent Justin Henry will be in attendance.
For families at Clark Davidson Elementary, the next step is not a new rule on the books but a district review of how volunteers are screened and what safeguards are added before the next field trip.
