School(s): River Islands Academies as a whole, especially RiTechA, considering the current ongoing construction until school is completed.
Location: Lathrop, California
Grades: TK–8

PURPOSE OF THIS PETITION

We, the undersigned parents, guardians, families, and/or members of the River Islands Academies (RIAcademies) community, are requesting immediate transparency and written confirmation regarding the safety and clearance requirements for every construction worker, subcontractor, temporary worker, vendor, and other construction-related individual who is permitted to access any campus within the River Islands Academies organization while students are present.

River Islands Academies (RIAcademies) including River Islands Technology Academy, Epic Academy, Steam Academy, and Spark Academy are TK–8 schools serving children from transitional kindergarten through eighth grade.

We recognize that construction to complete and/or improve campuses is or may be necessary. However, active construction occurring on TK–8 grade school campuses creates a heightened responsibility to ensure that every adult who is permitted access to the campus is appropriately vetted, identified, supervised, and restricted from inappropriate or unnecessary access to students.

Our concern is not directed at construction workers as individuals. Our concern is whether the schools have a consistent, documented, and verifiable system to ensure that every individual working on the campus meets all applicable legal, contractual, school, and safety requirements.

OUR CONCERN

Parents and guardians who wish to volunteer or spend meaningful time on RIAcademies campuses around students are required to comply with school-established requirements, which may include background clearance, fingerprinting, TB-related requirements, identification, sign in and out protocols, and supervision.

At the same time, construction personnel may spend substantial periods of time physically present on the same campus as our children.

Construction workers and other types of vendors, 3rd party workers, temporary workers, etc. may be working in hallways, near classrooms, around student common areas, near playgrounds, near parking and drop-off areas, and potentially in or near restroom facilities. Construction personnel may also include employees of multiple subcontractors rather than solely employees of one primary contractor.

We understand that construction personnel are not necessarily under the direct, continuous supervision of a school employee every second they are on campus.

That creates a legitimate question that parents should not have to speculate about:

What specific safeguards are in place to ensure that every single construction worker and subcontractor with access to our TK–8 campus has been appropriately vetted and cleared to be around our children?

We believe parents deserve a clear answer.

CALIFORNIA LAW AND CONTRACTOR BACKGROUND REQUIREMENTS

California Education Code §45125.1 specifically addresses employees of entities contracting with a local educational agency and criminal-background requirements for individuals who may interact with pupils outside the immediate supervision and control of a parent or guardian or school employee.

The law provides requirements concerning criminal-background verification for individuals covered by the statute and also addresses fingerprinting and additional contractor employees.

California law also addresses tuberculosis-related requirements for school personnel and volunteers under Education Code §49406.

We are therefore requesting that the school clearly identify which statutory, contractual, charter, and school-policy requirements apply to construction personnel on this particular campus and how the school verifies compliance.

We are not asking the school to disclose confidential criminal-history information or personally identifiable information about individual workers.

We are asking for verification that the required processes have been completed and are being enforced.

WE DEMAND TRANSPARENCY AND WRITTEN CONFIRMATION

We respectfully request written confirmation addressing each of the following:

1. BACKGROUND CHECKS

Please confirm whether every construction worker, subcontractor, temporary worker, vendor, and other construction-related individual currently permitted to access any of the RIAcademies TK–8 campuses have undergone the applicable criminal-background screening required by law, contract, school policy, or charter requirements.

2. FINGERPRINTING

Please confirm which categories of construction personnel are required to be fingerprinted and whether those fingerprinting requirements have been completed before the individual was permitted access to any RIAcademies campus.

If any construction personnel are not fingerprinted, please identify:

The category of worker;
The reason fingerprinting is not required;
The applicable statutory, contractual, or policy authority supporting the exemption; and
What alternative screening or safeguards are required for that individual.

3. TB REQUIREMENTS

Please confirm whether construction personnel are subject to TB risk assessments, testing, or clearance requirements under applicable law, school policy, contractual requirements, or other applicable requirements.

Please confirm that all required TB-related requirements have been satisfied before individuals are permitted to work on campus around students.

4. SUBCONTRACTORS

Please confirm that these requirements apply not only to employees of the primary construction contractor, but also to:

Subcontractors;
Temporary workers;
Independent contractors;
Delivery personnel who receive campus access;
Specialty trades;
Vendors;
Inspectors or consultants; and
Any other adults who may have recurring or unsupervised access to any RIAcademies campus.

5. IDENTIFICATION

Please explain how the school verifies the identity of construction personnel while they are on RIAcademies campuses.

We request confirmation that all construction personnel are required to wear visible identification/badges and that the school can distinguish authorized construction personnel from unauthorized individuals.

6. SUPERVISION

Please provide the school’s written protocol for supervising construction personnel while students are present.

Specifically:

Are construction workers or any of the other types of workers previously listed above ever alone in student-accessible areas?
Can construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above enter hallways containing classrooms without a school employee accompanying them?
Can construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above interact directly with students?
Who is responsible for monitoring construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above?
What happens when a worker (aside from employees of RIAcademies) needs to access an area outside the designated construction zone?

7. RESTROOM ACCESS

Please provide a clear explanation of restroom access for construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above.

Specifically, are construction workers or any of the other types of workers previously listed above permitted to use the same restroom facilities accessible to TK–8 students?

If so, what safeguards are in place?

If separate restroom facilities are provided, please confirm that construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above are directed to those facilities.

8. PHYSICAL SEPARATION FROM STUDENTS

Please explain how active construction areas are physically separated from students.

We request confirmation regarding:

Fencing;
Locked construction areas;
Controlled entry points;
Restricted pathways;
Signage;
Access controls;
Separation of construction traffic from student traffic; and
Procedures for preventing students from entering construction areas.

9. AFTER-HOURS AND EARLY/LATE ACCESS

Please explain what procedures are used when construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above are on campus before students arrive, after students leave, or during times when fewer school employees are present.

10. EMERGENCY AND INCIDENT PROCEDURES

Please explain what procedures are in place if a construction worker or any of the other types of workers previously listed above:

Enters a restricted area;
Has inappropriate contact with a student;
Violates campus access rules;
Is discovered to lack required clearance;
Refuses to follow school safety procedures; or
Is removed from the construction project by the contractor and/or a RIAcademies employee.

11. VERIFICATION RATHER THAN VERBAL ASSURANCE

We respectfully request written verification, rather than a general verbal assurance that “all workers have been cleared.”

We understand that RIAcademies cannot release confidential personnel records, fingerprints, criminal-history reports, medical records, or other protected personal information.

However, RIAcademies should be able to provide a written certification or other appropriate documentation confirming that the required screening and clearance processes have been completed.

12. ACCOUNTABILITY

Please identify the individual or position responsible for verifying that each construction worker or any of the other types of workers previously listed above are properly cleared and authorized before being permitted access to the campus.

We also request confirmation of how frequently compliance is audited and how newly added construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above are screened before receiving campus access.

 

OUR REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

We respectfully request that the River Islands Academies school board provide a written response to this petition addressing each of the above questions.

We further request that, until compliance can be confirmed, the school take appropriate interim measures to ensure that construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above do not have unnecessary or unsupervised access to student areas.

At minimum, we believe the following safeguards should be in place:

All construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above must be properly identified while on campus.
Construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above must remain within designated work areas whenever possible.
Student areas must be physically separated from active construction areas, and safety measures must be taken to ensure their safety at all times and mitigate risks to their safety and well-being.
Construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above should not have unnecessary access to student restrooms or other student-only areas.
Construction personnel or any of the other types of workers previously listed above who are required to interact with students or who may otherwise have access to students outside the immediate supervision and control of a parent/guardian or school employee must satisfy all applicable background-clearance requirements.
Subcontractors and temporary workers must be subject to the same applicable screening and access-control requirements as other construction personnel, as well as any of the other types of workers previously listed above.
Any individual who does not meet the applicable requirements should not be permitted access to areas where students are present.

THIS IS ABOUT OUR CHILDREN’S SAFETY

We want to be clear:

This petition is not anti-construction or any anti-workers in other subgroups.

We understand that construction and other types of work are necessary at times to complete, improve, and/or expand our schools.

This petition is about reasonable transparency and student safety.

Parents and guardians should not be placed in the position of wondering whether an adult who is regularly working around their transitional-kindergarten, elementary, or middle-school-aged child has undergone the appropriate screening.

Parents and guardians should not have to wonder whether construction personnel or any other workers who have access to the RIAcademies campuses can freely access student restrooms.

Parents and guardians should not have to wonder whether subcontractors have been vetted in the same manner as the primary contractor.

And parents and guardians should not have to rely solely on verbal assurances when there are potentially numerous adults working on active TK–8 campuses.

If every construction worker or any of the other types of workers previously listed above are appropriately cleared, identified, and subject to appropriate access and supervision protocols, then we ask the school to demonstrate that clearly and transparently to the families it serves.

If there are individuals who are not subject to fingerprinting, background checks, TB requirements, or other safeguards, then we ask RIAcademies to clearly explain why, under what authority, and what alternative protections are in place.

We believe that is a reasonable expectation for any public TK–8 school.

REQUEST FOR WRITTEN RESPONSE

We respectfully request a written response to this petition within 10 school/business days of receipt.

We further request that this matter be placed on the agenda for discussion by the appropriate River Islands Academies school board and authorizing district or other responsible governing authority so that parents and guardians can receive a clear and documented explanation of the safeguards currently in place.

Our children deserve a school environment where safety is not assumed; instead, it is verified, documented, and enforced.

SIGNATURES

By signing below, I am requesting transparency and appropriate student-safety safeguards regarding construction personnel and other non-RIAcademies employees/workers working on any of the RIAcademies campuses, including: River Islands Technology Academy (aka RiTechA), Epic Academy, Steam Academy, and Spark Academy.