Calabasas : Schools May Require Community Service

A controversial proposal to require students to participate in community service programs for class credit will be discussed tonight by Las Virgenes Unified School District’s board of education.

Assistant Supt. Leo J. Lowe suggested launching the program in elementary school and then gradually introducing it into the upper grades. The goal, he said, is to help students be good citizens.

“We’re talking about a moral value here,” said Lowe, who is on a committee studying the idea. “We’re talking about character education, and this could help socialize them to that process.”

But some educators say making community service mandatory would defeat the purpose. Martha Mutz, principal of Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas, said that in her experience students are more enthusiastic about community service if it is their own idea.

Her school, she said, encourages teachers to make opportunities available for students who show a desire to help others. For example, she said, after the Oklahoma City bombing, “we didn’t do anything official; we waited for it to come from the kids. Then, one child, a second-grader in one class said, ‘We ought to do something to help those people.’ ”

Teachers helped the students organize a bake sale, which raised about $500 for the bombing victims, Mutz said.

Lowe said he has heard the objections. “Some people even accused me of wanting to make students indentured servants,” he said. However, district surveys show students want to get more involved in community service work, he said. In addition, Lowe said, many college admission counselors look favorably on students involved in community service.