No change to Mid-Prairie volunteer policy after controversy

WELLMAN — School board officials last week said they found no problems with the district’s volunteer policy, but did condemn the interpretation of its theater program that accepted help from a convicted sex offender in a controversy similar to another the district faced in 2018.

Trent Yoder was at the center of a similar controversy in 2018, that ended in the school establishing background checks for volunteers that returned to the building repeatedly. More recently, community members found he had been building sets for the theater, albeit with little to no student contact.

“Reading it, I’ll be honest, I don’t see an issue with the policy,” school board Member Mary Allred said. “What I’m finding is that they misinterpreted, because in the volunteer policy it says ‘individuals not working directly with students may still be defined as adult volunteers when they are there … over a significant period of time. What was presented to us by Fine Arts was that he was there multiple times.”

In a tense public hearing during the board meeting, Mid-Prairie Fine Arts Boosters President Stacie Woodside said they hadn’t considered the policy because they were paying for Yoder’s services.

“It was a Fine Arts Boosters decision to accept Trent’s work on the sets for the plays and musicals, he was paid for that,” she said. “He was paid for that out of Fine Arts Boosters money, he was not considered a volunteer. When he did deliver the material or the sets, there were never children present and it was always with another Fine Arts Booster parent that was also involved and also a staff member that was present as well.”

Woodside said Yoder’s involvement was not kept under wraps.

“We were always transparent with that, his name was always listed in the programs,” she said. “That’s been in the programs for the last two years, so it’s not like we were trying to be shady or get away with something … we were always very forward and up front about what the plan was.”

Steve Groenewold, a parent in the district speaking in the public forum, said Yoder’s involvement didn’t need to be so controversial.

“I’ve known Trent for quite a while, and this isn’t the first time that this situation has come before the board … He’s somebody that made a mistake in his life around 30 years ago,” Groenewold said. “He lost his teaching career, he lost his coaching career, he went to jail for what he had done … he went through the therapy. The professionals and the judge involved in the case, they closed it. They removed him from the sex offender registry, they deemed he was no longer a threat.”

Groenewold said he was convinced Yoder had been rehabilitated.

“He’s not a monster, he’s a father, he’s raising his kids at Mid-Prairie the same way the rest of us are,” he said. “Like many people he’s wanted to find ways to give back, to help out, to volunteer. Given his background, he’s always insisted that other adults be present … It’s just his way of giving back, and even that now is called into question based on what I understood. The only thing I want to say is, when is enough, enough?”

Board members said they didn’t see a need to rework the district’s volunteer or visitor policy.

“If you try to clarify or drill down into more detail … where do you ever draw the line, that’s my concern,” board member Jed Seward said. “I think it was a good policy, just that it was interpreted at that time, in a way that the intent wasn’t supposed to be … because everybody’s going to interpret it differently, I don’t see us being able to draw that line in the sand.”

Board President Jeremy Pickard said school officials should focus on the clause of its volunteer policy that referred to any individual visiting the district multiple times.

“I think what ended up happening was they went from visitor to volunteer, but they didn’t end up following the steps,” he said. “There was a breakdown of communication, a breakdown of following the policy. So in taking a look at that … I’d like to try to figure out why that happened.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com