§264. Community service; high school diploma endorsement program

            A.(1) The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may establish a "Distinction for Community Service" diploma endorsement program to recognize high school students who perform a certain number of hours of documented community service. Community service hours shall not count toward academic course work or graded work in any public school. The number of service hours required to earn a diploma endorsement shall be determined by the state board and shall accrue from the ninth grade through the twelfth grade.

            (2) Not later than March first of each year, provided that a diploma endorsement program as authorized in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection is implemented, the state board shall provide a written report to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education, which shall contain, at a minimum, the following:

            (a) The goals and objectives of the diploma endorsement program.

            (b) The number of community service endorsements awarded to students for the preceding school year.

            (c) The types of community service performed by students for the preceding school year.

            (d) The results and effectiveness of the program.

            B. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall adopt necessary rules and guidelines for the proper implementation of any diploma endorsement program for community service developed pursuant to Paragraph (A)(1) of this Section, and each city, parish, and other local public school board shall provide for such community service in accordance with such rules and guidelines.

            C. The community service performed pursuant to this Section shall not be related to political activities of any kind.

            Acts 2012, No. 295, §1; Acts 2023, No. 346, §1.