69730-69732
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 69730-69732
69730. There is hereby established the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Community Service Scholarship Program, the purpose of which shall be to reward pupils for volunteering to serve their communities, to address serious social and economic community needs, and to increase the tendency of youth to be involved in public service. The program shall be administered by the Student Aid Commission. Pursuant to that authority, the commission shall do all of the following: (a) Provide information regarding the program to each school district in this state. Any public high school of this state, other than any continuation or alternative high school, may participate in the program upon request. Each participating high school shall provide adequate notice to its pupils of the availability of the scholarships authorized under this article. (b) Establish a model scholarship application form of no more than one page in length, requiring no more than 25 data elements, and provide copies of that application form to all participating high schools. Participating high schools may use either the model form or their own scholarship application form. Scholarship funds to be awarded pursuant to this article shall be provided without regard to the requirements otherwise set forth in this chapter. (c) Conduct periodic reviews in order to ensure that the selection of scholarship recipients is conducted in compliance with this article. 69731. (a) At least one scholarship under this article shall be made available each year to each high school participating in the program to award to a pupil who is enrolled in that high school. One additional scholarship shall be available each year to each participating high school for each 1,000 pupils enrolled in that school in excess of 1,000 pupils. (b) Each participating high school shall establish and maintain a community service scholarship committee that consists of the following persons: (1) One full-time teacher employed by the school. (2) One employee of the school who is a classified employee or pupil counselor, and who has contributed to the academic or personal development of high school pupils. In the event that no person meets those qualifications, the principal of the school shall designate any other employee of the school to serve on the committee. (3) One parent of any pupil who is enrolled in the high school but is not an applicant for a scholarship under this article. (4) Two representatives from community organizations or agencies, as described in subdivision (c). (c) Scholarships made available to the participating high school shall be awarded by the community service scholarship committee to pupil applicants determined by a majority vote of the membership of the committee to have made significant contributions to the community through community service. For the purposes of this article, "community service" means volunteer work for any nonprofit organization that meets the description set forth in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 501 of Title 26 of the United States Code, or for any other community service agency or organization that is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and nonsectarian, which work is performed to further purposes of education, environmental quality, health care, local, state, or federally funded public assistance, public safety crime prevention or control, transportation, recreation, housing and neighborhood improvement, rural development, conservation, child care, senior citizens' quality of life, outdoor beautification, or any other purpose of human betterment and community improvement. In the event that the community service scholarship committee determines that the number of applicants who qualify for a scholarship under this subdivision exceeds the number of scholarships available to the high school under this article, the committee shall apply the following additional criteria in order to select scholarship recipients: (1) The applicant's financial status, including his or her ability to finance a college education. (2) The extent to which the applicant's capacity to provide volunteer service has been limited by the applicant's other extracurricular activities, summer or part-time employment, or responsibilities to his or her family. (3) Whether the applicant would be the first member of his or her immediate family to attend an institution of higher education. (d) Each scholarship awarded shall be for a period of one year, subject to the requirement that no scholarship funding shall be payable as to any academic term in which the recipient fails to both maintain a course load of at least six semester units or the equivalent and meet or exceed the institution's standards for satisfactory academic progress. (e) No later than June 15 of each year, the community service scholarship committee of each participating high school shall notify the Student Aid Commission of the names of the scholarship recipients selected by the committee, or, alternatively, that no pupil applicants were determined by the committee to qualify for a scholarship pursuant to subdivision (c). No later than August 15 of that year, the commission shall provide funding for the subsequent academic year for each scholarship awarded pursuant to this section, in an amount equal to the amount of the undergraduate student fees charged for that school year by the University of California, except that no such allotment shall be in an amount of less than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500). (f) Scholarship funding provided under this article may be applied to educational costs incurred by the recipient pursuant to his or her attendance at an institution of higher education. Those costs may include, but are not necessarily limited to, tuition, fees, instructional materials, and room and board. (g) Scholarships shall be funded under this article to the extent funds are made available for that purpose. (h) This article shall not be construed to prevent any participating high school or pupil from seeking private or other funding sources to supplement the amount of any scholarship or scholarships awarded under this article. Any scholarship or scholarships awarded under this article shall augment, and not supplant, student financial aid from other sources. 69732. Each applicant for a scholarship under this article shall meet all of the following qualifications: (a) Is maintaining satisfactory educational progress, as defined in Section 35160.5. (b) Has provided volunteer service to one or more community organizations or agencies, as described in subdivision (c). (c) Is eligible to graduate from high school in the school year in which the application is made. (d) Intends to attend an institution of higher education in California during the subsequent school year, and to maintain a course load of at least six semester units or the equivalent. (e) Is a resident of California.