2006 Ohio Revised Code - [3313.60.5] 3313.605.Community service education program.

[§ 3313.60.5] § 3313.605. Community service education program.
 

(A)  As used in this section: 

(1) "Civic responsibility" means the patriotic and ethical duties of all citizens to take an active role in society and to consider the interests and concerns of other individuals in the community. 

(2) "Volunteerism" means nonprofit activity in the United States, the benefits and limitations of nonprofit activities, and the presence and function of nonprofit civic and charitable organizations in the United States. 

(3) "Community service" means a service performed through educational institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, social service agencies, and philanthropies and generally designed to provide direct experience with people or project planning, with the goal of improving the quality of life for the community. Such activities may include but are not limited to tutoring, literacy training, neighborhood improvement, encouraging interracial and multicultural understanding, promoting ideals of patriotism, increasing environmental safety, assisting the elderly or disabled, and providing mental health care, housing, drug abuse prevention programs, and other philanthropic programs, particularly for disadvantaged or low-income persons. 

(B)  Any city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district board of education may include community service education in the educational program of the district by adopting a resolution to that effect. A governing board of an educational service center, upon the request of a local school district board of education, may provide a community service education program for the local district pursuant to this section. Any board implementing community service education shall do both of the following: 

(1) Establish a community service advisory committee. The committee shall provide recommendations to the board regarding a community service plan for students in all grades of the schools under control of the board and shall oversee and assist in the implementation of the plan adopted by the board under division (B)(2) of this section. Each board shall determine the membership and organization of its advisory committee and may designate an existing committee established for another purpose to serve as the community service advisory committee; however, each such committee shall include two or more students and shall include or consult with at least one person employed in the field of volunteer management who devotes at least fifty per cent of employment hours to coordinating volunteerism among community organizations. The committee members may include representatives of parents, teachers, administrators, other educational institutions, business, government, nonprofit organizations, veterans organizations, social service agencies, religious organizations, and philanthropies. 

(2) Develop and implement a community service plan for students in all grades of the schools under control of the board. To assist in establishing its plan, the board shall consult with and may contract with one or more local or regional organizations with experience in volunteer program development and management. Each community service plan adopted under this division shall be based upon the recommendations of the advisory committee and shall provide for all of the following: 

(a) Education of students in the value of community service and its contributions to the history of this state and this nation; 

(b) Identification of opportunities for students to provide community service; 

(c) Encouragement of students to provide community service; 

(d) Integration of community service opportunities into the curriculum; 

(e) A community service instructional program for teachers, including strategies for the teaching of community service education, for the discovery of community service opportunities, and for the motivation of students to become involved in community service. 

Plans shall be reviewed periodically by the advisory committee and, if necessary, revised by the board at least once every five years. 

Plans shall emphasize community service opportunities that can most effectively use the skills of students, such as tutoring or literacy programs. Plans shall provide for students to perform services under the plan that will not supplant the hiring of, result in the displacement of, or impair any existing employment contract of any particular employee of any private or governmental entity for which the services are performed. The plan shall provide for any entity utilizing a student to perform community service under the plan to verify to the board that the student does not supplant the hiring of, displace, or impair the employment contract of any particular employee of the entity. 

Upon adoption, a board shall submit a copy of its plan to the department of education. Each city and exempted village board of education and each governing board of a service center shall include a copy of its plan in any course of study adopted under section 3313.60 of the Revised Code that is required to be submitted for approval to the state board for review. A joint vocational school district board of education shall submit a copy of its plan to the state board for review when required to do so by the state board. A local board shall forward its plan to the educational service center governing board for inclusion in the governing board's course of study. By December 1, 1992, and periodically thereafter, the department of education shall review all plans and publish those plans that could serve as models for other school districts or educational service centers. 

(C)  A board integrating community service education into the curriculum may only grant high school credit for a community service education course if approximately half of the course is devoted to classroom study of such matters as civic responsibility, the history of volunteerism, and community service training and approximately half of the course is devoted to community service. 
 

Each board shall determine which specific activities will serve to fulfill the required hours of community service. 
 

HISTORY: 144 v H 396 (Eff 6-3-92); 146 v H 117. Eff 9-29-95.
 

The effective date is set by section 197 of HB 117.