Arkansas school districts have already begun helping students meet a new community service graduation requirement as state officials work to approve final rules for the program.
According to Arkansas Advocate, under the LEARNS Act, a sweeping new education law, Arkansas students must complete 75 hours of community hours to graduate, starting with this year’s freshman class.
De Queen superintendent Jason Sanders said 9th grade administrators and teachers have built time into the school day throughout the year for community service opportunities as well as after-school opportunities to meet the requirement.
Students at De Queen Junior High, which serves 8th and 9th graders, have participated in campus clean-up days, volunteered at sporting events, worked concession stands, served meals at a chamber of commerce banquet and visited nursing homes, Sanders said.
“We understand there could be extenuating circumstances for some students and are waiting for guidance from (the Arkansas Department of Education),” he said. “It is really hard to say how difficult implementation is at this point because we are still in the early stages of this LEARNS requirement. We should be able to know more in due time.”
Details are on the way following the State Board of Education’s approval of draft rules for public comment on Thursday, more than a year after the passage of the LEARNS Act.
The proposed rules, which mirror language in the LEARNS Act, will have a 30-day public comment period and feedback will inform any changes. The final rules must again be approved by the state board and then by lawmakers.
Unless another effective date is specified, the rules become effective 10 days after filing with the Secretary of State’s office.
Since the 1996-1997 academic year, Arkansas law has allowed students to receive one graduation credit for completing a minimum of 75 hours of community service. Under the LEARNS Act, the graduating class of 2025-2026 will be the final group eligible for the credit.
Arkansas Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Stacy Smith said Thursday that the new graduation requirement will help students have pride and connection to their communities. She also said the rules provide flexibility for local districts to determine what qualifies as community service.
“We do believe that school districts need to know their students and they need to have the ability to make some individual decisions, and they know their communities and their resources and places that students have the opportunity to go and do community service,” Smith said.
While the proposed rules allow districts to decide what counts as community service, the policy must be posted to the district website, require an adult sign off on the student’s community service hours and include preparation, action and reflection components required for a student to receive credit.
Service activities can be completed inside or outside of Arkansas and before, during or after school hours.
When designing community service activities, districts are required to address student safety and ensure partner organizations have the infrastructure to accommodate students by ensuring student safety and privacy, as well as provide necessary equipment and training, according to the draft rules.
A minimum number of community service hours are not required for each grade unless they are transferring into the district. The minimum number of hours for transfer students is 15 hours for 9th grade and 20 hours for 10th through 12th grade.
Rep. Tippi McCullough, a Little Rock Democrat and former educator, said she’s not against community service, but she is concerned about students who face challenges at home or have extra familial duties like caring for siblings.
“I think for a lot of families that requirement will put a certain kind of strain on the family and on the kids just because of these advantages some families have over others,” McCullough said. “Whether it’s money or whether it’s their life situation or whatever I do think it will be much easier for some students to achieve that than others.”
The proposed rules allow the service requirement to be waived for extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis. A parent, legal guardian or 18-year-old student may petition the district for the waiver and a public school board must take up the request at its next board meeting. The chief executive officer of an open-enrollment charter school must take up the request within 15 days of receipt.
Extenuating circumstances may include a major illness of a student or family member, a student who is “medically fragile” or with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Smith noted that a student does not automatically qualify for an exemption if they have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), a written education plan for students with disabilities.
“Again, it’s about individual students, and (districts) working with families and working with their students and the schools to determine what’s appropriate,” Smith said.
Read more on ArkansasAdvocate.com.
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