H-427                _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1311

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Representatives Pruitt, Dorn, K. Wilson, Rasmussen, Cole, G. Fisher, Rust, Anderson, Rector, R. Fisher, Basich, Phillips and Ebersole

Read first time 1/20/89 and referred to Committee on Education.

AN ACT Relating to community service by high school students; creating new sections; making an appropriation; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     (1) The legislature believes that providing an opportunity for service to the community is an effective way to develop the understanding and skills necessary for full and effective participation in a democratic society.

          (2) To encourage service activities by students, the legislature creates the serve Washington pilot program.  The purpose of the program is to provide funds to cover teacher planning time and out-of-pocket expenses of groups of students in implementing service projects.

          (3) The superintendent of public instruction may grant funds to selected schools for the implementation of service activities by their students.

          (4) In evaluating the requests for funds, the superintendent of public instruction shall consider the following criteria including but not limited to:  (a) The number of students to be involved in the project; (b) evidence of student planning activities; (c) the cost of implementing the plan; (d) the population to be served; (e) the proposed budget; (f) collaboration with ongoing delivery systems in the community; (g) faculty advisors; and (h) timelines for carrying out the project.

          (5) A project shall not receive more than:  (a) Two hundred dollars for every five students participating in the project up to a maximum of one thousand dollars per project for out-of-pocket expenses for students; and (b) the equivalent of five days of planning time for three certificated staff per project.

          (6) The superintendent of public instruction shall report on these programs to the house of representatives and senate education committees no later than January 1, 1990.

          (7) This section shall expire January 15, 1991.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) A coordinating committee for service activities shall be established by the superintendent of public instruction.  The committee shall be composed of members who represent service clubs; nonprofit corporations; youth service organizations; city, county, and state elected officials; colleges and universities; and school districts.  The members selected shall function under the superintendent of public instruction.  The committee shall identify objectives for projects to promote the goal of developing the understanding and skills necessary for full and effective participation in a democratic society and shall develop student outcome indicators to be used to assess the effectiveness of the projects.

          (2) Districts are encouraged to promote student community involvement in such activities as, but not limited to:  The Special Olympics; participation in community-based service clubs; visiting hospitals and nursing homes; helping with voter registration, including requests for absentee ballots; volunteering time and labor on behalf of community events; getting involved with community issues or problems, such as by volunteering to serve on a task force; or initiating or helping with a survey of unmet local economic or market needs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The superintendent of public instruction shall evaluate the projects receiving funding under section 1 of this act.  Such evaluation shall include a description of the student participants and the service activities undertaken, an assessment of whether the objectives adopted by the committee under section 2 of this act have been achieved, and a verification of the program costs.  Projects which have achieved the objectives shall be considered validated and all evaluation information relative to validated projects shall be made available to all school districts through the state clearinghouse for educational information.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The sum of ..... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.