Moorpark : Schools May Require Community Service

Moorpark Unified School District officials are studying whether to make high school students volunteer in soup kitchens or other community projects before they can graduate.

The Moorpark school board voted last week to spend $5,000 to study the idea of requiring community service from high school students before they are allowed to receive their diplomas.

School board member Greg Barker, who teaches high school history and geography in Thousand Oaks, said the study is the first step to making community service a requirement.

“This has been on my list for two years,” he said. “I hope it happens. It’s a way to create better citizens.”

Barker said he has studied school districts in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania where volunteering is required.

“There are thousands and thousands of schools around the country that do this,” he said.

The study will measure parent and student opinions on the idea.

Members of the committee conducting the study will also look at schools in California that have the requirement.

The study is expected to be concluded in November, Barker said.