BILL NUMBER: SB 520ENROLLED 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.