A proposed policy requiring all school volunteers to get police checks — even a grandparent who wants to help out on one field trip — is unacceptable and must be reworked, Toronto District School Board trustees say.

A committee sent the controversial proposal back to board staff after an outcry from parents, who said it “solves a problem that doesn’t exist,” and would severely curtail involvement.

“There were a lot of concerns,” said Trustee Cathy Dandy, who heads the human resources committee, which met last week. “Nobody is saying we don’t want police checks, but mostly there were concerns around the lack of gradation — it is all or nothing.”

Parents aren’t opposed to what happens now — with checks every few years for regular volunteers — but felt the new policy was too strict for those who want to help out with fundraisers or one-off events.

Worries were heightened after a Star series found that hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have never been charged or convicted of a crime show up in police databases, and may have information about long-ago interactions with police revealed in background checks.

“A police check for Granny to go to the zoo with Gwendolyn — it’s just nuts to have,” said Trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher.

Dandy said a new policy will come back to trustees for a vote in the fall. In the meantime, the existing protocol stands.

The proposed policy “really did get confusing,” added Dandy. “The reason for staff to include volunteers on a field trip is because of the familiarity — not so much that they might do something, because a teacher is there. But that the child becomes familiar with the individual.”

Parents weren’t upset about the cost of undergoing a police check, but did think long wait times would deter volunteers.

“They felt it was foolish, and they felt that at the end of the day, it’s creating a false sense of security — really, that’s not where the threat is. It’s taking a hard line when there’s no evidence” of a problem, said Dandy.

The proposed new rules were a result of a coroner’s inquest into the death of 5-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin, who suffered neglect and abuse at the hands of his family. His grandmother volunteered at a Toronto school, though there is no suggestion any students were harmed.

“In all the years that I can remember — and I grew up in Toronto and I’ve been through the TDSB — I’ve never heard anything about a parent doing something nasty to a child while on a field trip or while volunteering,” said Toronto mom and school volunteer Kate Wallis.

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The new rule “doesn’t protect anybody … we do need rules to keep kids safe, but if we think kids are in any danger, let’s come up with a way to handle that. …

“It seems to me the board is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.”