Updates to Community Service Hours Required for Graduation

[Anonymous]

Current class only needs 12 hours (as opposed to 100 hour requirement)
Does anyone have insight into what may be expected for class of 24?
[someone on DCUM knows someone involved in this change]

Thanks - signed a parent who is trying to support a junior

[Anonymous]

The advisory from the DCPS website at
https://dcps.dc.gov/page/community-service
is below.

As a parent of graduates in 2022 and 2019 who both did the required 100 hours - I highly recommend it. It teaches valuable lessons about service, introduces them to organizations who do service work or non-profit work, gives them something to talk about at job interviews and on college applications, and may give them insights to what they want to do in the future. In 2022 kids were told they had to do 100 hours and it wasn't until mid May when DCPS waived the requirement for graduation. Many had fulfilled the requirement already. If these kids could find things to do during COVID, the opportunities to volunteer certainly exist now.

Emergency and Proposed Regulations for SY22-23
Please be aware of OSSE’s soon-to-be released Emergency and Proposed Regulations in regard to community service hours for students graduating in 2023. Per the Emergency and Proposed Regulations we will be gradually reintroducing community service hours over the next 4 years. The following expectations will go into effect for the class of 2023:

All students who graduate in 2023 must complete a minimum of 12 community service hours.
Students who transfer into DCPS during SY22-23 and graduate in 2023 will have the community service hour requirement waived.
Please note, these Emergency and Proposed Regulations will apply to all students who graduate in 2023, including midyear graduates, early graduates and all June and August graduates. Once OSSE’s final regulations are released, we will provide additional layers of information or guidance.

[Anonymous]

DCPS should have required 25 hours given the kids have one year to do it. DCPS will do anything to lower graduation requirements.

[Anonymous]

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on this earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS should have required 25 hours given the kids have one year to do it. DCPS will do anything to lower graduation requirements.

Just because DCPS lowers them, doesn't mean you have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS should have required 25 hours given the kids have one year to do it. DCPS will do anything to lower graduation requirements.

Agree, I think this is ridiculous. Should keep the requirement and offer waivers to kids who had issues doing it during COVID. Or lower it to 50, not 12!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on this earth.

And apparently some complained that 100 hours was too damn high.

[Anonymous]

If a kid doesn't do this, does anyone really think they shouldn't graduate? Like, DCPS graduates kids who are illiterate and innumerate and truant, but those kids are getting their volunteer hours in? Or is this another requirement like vaccines for attendance (not the COVID ones) that's on the books but doesn't get enforced at some schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a kid doesn't do this, does anyone really think they shouldn't graduate? Like, DCPS graduates kids who are illiterate and innumerate and truant, but those kids are getting their volunteer hours in? Or is this another requirement like vaccines for attendance (not the COVID ones) that's on the books but doesn't get enforced at some schools?

The school signs off on the community service hours so I know they just want kids to graduate. Low expectations as usual. Until you work in a DCPS high school you can’t imagine how little we as a community expect from teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS should have required 25 hours given the kids have one year to do it. DCPS will do anything to lower graduation requirements.

Agree, I think this is ridiculous. Should keep the requirement and offer waivers to kids who had issues doing it during COVID. Or lower it to 50, not 12!

the problem is that Community Service has lost its meaning when it went from something a kid should be excited to do vs. they have to do. Let's face it...easily 95% of the CS is nonsense. It is doing little to nothing for a group where you know a principal and they sign-off on the hours. Or, the school gives CS hours for clubs and activities as a way to solve for the requirement. Give kids a GPA bump or some other carrot, but let's lose the hypocrisy and get rid of any fake CS requirement.

[Anonymous]

What's the solution to kids not doing "mandatory" community service? Lower the requirements.

What's the solution to kids not doing their work? Lowering the requirements.

[Anonymous]

If DCPS signs off on BS, then they just shouldn't have the program. Teaching that community service is just a checkbox to get handled is much worse than having no requirement at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DCPS signs off on BS, then they just shouldn't have the program. Teaching that community service is just a checkbox to get handled is much worse than having no requirement at all.

100% agree!

[Anonymous]

Any predictions on what they will do for students who are current 9th, 10th, or 11th graders? Trying to plan ahead and if we don't have to do 25 hours every year, that would be nice to know ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any predictions on what they will do for students who are current 9th, 10th, or 11th graders? Trying to plan ahead and if we don't have to do 25 hours every year, that would be nice to know ahead of time.

This was the original question.