May we use CNCS funds to support the Presidential Freedom Scholarships for high school students?
A; No. The federal government provides $500 toward a $1,000 scholarship for service and the $500 balance must be raised using other funds. Our SEA is concerned with a recommendation made in the formula guidelines. The guidelines point out that Federal law requires states to provide opportunities for students enrolled in private nonprofit schools to participate in service-learning activities. It then recommends that if 5% of the students in the state are in private schools, then roughly 5% of the students participating in service learning should be private school students, and provisions should be made to train teachers of such students. Since we cannot provide subgrant funds to private nonprofit schools, we have limited control on this issue. Please clarify. LEAs may partner with private schools; the SEA may provide training to private schools. We are interested in a variety of program models to increase service-learning participation among private nonprofit schools.
