(a) The General Assembly recognizes that the effective use of volunteers in the public schools can provide greater opportunities for students to participate in school-sponsored extracurricular and interscholastic activities, which many local school districts otherwise could not provide due to funding limitations and lack of availability of licensed personnel.
(b) The General Assembly further recognizes that volunteers in the public schools should be properly screened and have effective training before they have significant unsupervised contact with students.
(c) The General Assembly intends by this chapter to provide for the establishment of a registered volunteers program in order that local school districts, students, and staff may have the advantages of services from duly qualified volunteers who, in turn, will have more incentive to offer their time and talents for the benefit of Arkansas school children.