BILL NUMBER: SB 520	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 24, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 2, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 3, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 12, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 30, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Pavley
   (Coauthors: Senators Alquist and Romero)

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to add Section 51225.31 to the Education Code, relating to
high school curriculum.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 520, Pavley. High school curriculum: community service.
   Existing law sets forth the courses a pupil is required to
complete while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to graduate
from high school and authorizes the governing board of a school
district to specify by rule other required coursework.
   This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district
to offer credit, as specified, for hours of community service
provided outside of regular school hours by a pupil, for a maximum of
2 semesters. The bill would require a school district that elects to
offer credit for community service to establish and maintain a list
of suitable community service organizations from which a pupil would
be required to choose to complete the community service hours. The
bill also would require a school district to require the pupil to
submit a report or other academic assignments, as determined by the
district, on the community service experience and would require the
community service organization to verify the hours served by the
pupil.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 51225.31 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
   51225.31.  The governing board of a school district may elect to
offer credit in an amount that is equivalent to that of a
one-semester elective course in that district for hours of community
service provided outside of regular school hours by a pupil in an
amount that may be equal to or greater than 60 hours per semester, as
determined by the district, for a maximum of any two semesters that
the pupil attends high school. A school district that elects to offer
credit for community service shall establish and maintain a list of
suitable community service organizations, excluding organizations
whose sole purpose is political advocacy, from which a pupil shall
choose to complete the community service hours, shall require a pupil
to submit a report or other academic assignments, as determined by
the district, to a school representative on the community service
experience, and shall require the community service organization to
verify the hours served by the pupil.