Volunteers start duty in Baltimore schools

When the school bells ring Monday in Baltimore, volunteers will be helping in school offices and lunch rooms.

About 750 people have stepped forward since school officials asked last spring for 500 volunteers to help out in the city schools. The school system is still performing background checks on some of the volunteers, but about 150 of them have been processed and assigned to a city school.

Michael Sarbanes, the Executive Director of Community Engagement for the Baltimore City School System, says the volunteers are not being asked to be police or hall monitors. They are simply expected to be a positive adult presence and help out.