Children and Minors on Campus

Pierce College offers a diverse environment of classrooms, offices, laboratories, recreation and other activities that will attract children and minors to campus.  The college encourages safe, supervised campus visits by children and minors for the purposes of attending educational, cultural, or sporting events, programs and camps; and in order to make decisions about their academic future. 

For purposes of this policy, the following definitions are used:

  • Child(ren) is defined as anyone under the age of 13.
  • Minor(s) is defined as anyone under the age of 18.
  • Enrolled students under the age of 18 are not considered minor children.

The invitation of children and minors may be permitted with the following precautions and limitations, which are intended to protect health and safety, maintain productivity and comply with regulations.  

  1. No student or visitor to Pierce College shall leave a child unattended at the College, including in campus buildings, on campus grounds, or in a vehicle.
  2. A child shall not be left with a College employee unless that child is enrolled in an authorized program of the College. The College does not supervise children or minors outside of officially sanctioned programs and neither the College nor its employees or students may accept responsibility to do so on behalf of the College.
  3.  The college retains the right to revoke visitation permission at any time.
  4. Line of sight supervision of children by the parent or accompanying adult is required at all times.
  5. It is the responsibility of the parent/accompanying adult to ensure that children do not disrupt the educational setting.
  6. Children and minors are not allowed in the following high-risk areas:
    1. Natural Science laboratories, theater facilities (e.g. back stage, Black Box Theater, costume shop, etc), and Health Education equipment areas except when part of an organized and supervised experience/event (e.g. summer camps, school visits, etc.).
    2. Shops, mechanical rooms, power plants, garages, animal facilities, food preparation areas, high security areas;
    3. Any areas, indoors or out, containing power tools or machinery with exposed moving parts;
    4. Near grounds equipment, heavy duty or other motorized equipment; and vehicles except those assigned to the employee for commuting from home to campus or as part of a recognized college program;
    5. Any other high-risk areas (no playing in stairwells or doorways, no access to rooftops, construction zones, etc.). 
  7. On occasion a student may want to bring a child to class and should only be permitted occasionally, for the convenience of the student due to a family emergency.  
  8. Children and minors should not be allowed in classrooms where classes are in session unless permission is granted by the faculty member.  The student should ask permission from the faculty member prior to the start of class. If a child/minor becomes disruptive, the faculty member may require the student and child/minor to leave.  The faculty member should discuss the frequency of such occurrences with the student if this should begin to occur with frequency.

Revised 2020-02-06