FARGO (AP) - Fargo School District officials say they will allow a high-risk sex offender to visit his stepdaughter at an elementary school, provided he is accompanied by relatives.

The situation came to the district's attention when a parent with a child in the Hawthorne and Clara Barton elementary area asked the School Board to create a policy.

Lowell Wolff, an assistant superintendent, said the 32-year-old Fargo man will be allowed to visit Hawthorne Elementary if he is accompanied by his wife or father-in-law. In emergencies, the man must call ahead to the school. Otherwise, he is not allowed on school grounds.

The man was convicted of misdemeanor sexual assault for fondling a boy who was a relative when the boy was between the ages of 5 and 9, according to the North Dakota attorney general's sex offender Web site. He was convicted in Walsh County in 2000 and given a suspended jail sentence.

Wolff said the district is crafting a policy to handle such situations. Administrators are working with lawyers and hope to have a policy prepared for the School Board to consider in November, he said.

In the meantime, each situation will be decided on a case-by-case basis, Wolff said.

"We don't think it's a one-size-fits-all situation," he said. "What's notable about this (current situation) is that this is the first time that we've had (a sex offender) who has become a stepparent, so it's a new experience for us as well."

Some Fargo residents also are pushing for legislation to prevent sex offenders from living near schools. Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, said recently that he has drafted a bill for the Legislature to consider next year.