8421.

 There is hereby established the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens program. The purpose of the program is to create incentives for establishing locally driven after school enrichment programs that partner schools and communities to provide academic support and safe, constructive alternatives for high school pupils in the hours after the regular schoolday, and to assist pupils in passing the high school exit examination required for high school graduation pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 60850) of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2 for public school programs.

(a) High school after school programs shall serve pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive.

(b) A high school after school program established pursuant to this article shall consist of the following two elements:

(1) (A) An academic assistance element that shall include, but need not be limited to, at least one of the following: preparation for the high school exit examination, tutoring, career exploration, homework assistance, or college preparation, including information about the Cal Grant Program established pursuant to Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3. The assistance shall be aligned with the regular academic programs of the pupils.

(B) For the purposes of this article, “career exploration” means activities that help pupils develop the knowledge and skills that are relevant to their career interests and reinforce academic content.

(2) An enrichment element that may include, but need not be limited to, community service, career and technical education, job readiness, opportunities for mentoring and tutoring younger pupils, service learning, arts, computer and technology training, physical fitness, and recreation activities.

(c) A program shall operate for a minimum of 15 hours per week.

(d) An entity may operate programs on one or multiple sites. If an entity plans to operate programs at multiple sites, only one application is required.

(e) A program may operate on a schoolsite or on another site approved by the department during the grant application process. A program located off school grounds shall not be approved unless both of the following criteria are met:

(1) Safe transportation is available to transport participating pupils if necessary.

(2) The program is at least as available and accessible as similar programs conducted on schoolsites.

(f) Applicants for grants pursuant to this article shall ensure that all of the following requirements are fulfilled, if applicable:

(1) The application includes a description of the activities that will be available for pupils and lists the program hours.

(2) The application includes an estimate of the following:

(A) The number of pupils expected to attend the program on a regular basis.

(B) The average hours of attendance per pupil.

(C) The percentage of pupils expected to attend the program less than three days a week, three days a week, and more than three days a week, for each quarter or semester during the grant period.

(3) The application documents the commitments of each partner to operate a program at a location or locations that are safe and accessible to participating pupils.

(4) The application certifies that pupils were involved in the design of the program and describes the extent of that involvement.

(5) The application identifies federal, state, and local programs that will be combined or coordinated with the high school after school program for the most effective use of public resources, and describes a plan for implementing the high school after school program beyond federal grant funding.

(6) The application has been approved by the school district, or the charter school governing body, and the principal of each participating school for each schoolsite or other site.

(7) The application includes a certification that the applicant has complied with the requirement in subdivision (b) of Section 8422.

(8) The application includes a certification that each applicant or partner in the application agrees to do all of the following:

(A) Assume responsibility for the quality of the program.

(B) Follow all fiscal reporting and auditing standards required by the department.

(C) Provide the following information on participating pupils to the department:

(i) Schoolday attendance rates.

(ii) Pupil test scores from the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program established under Section 60640, reflecting achievement in the areas addressed by required program elements, if assessments have been established in that area.

(iii) Pupil achievement on the high school exit examination as applicable.

(iv) Program attendance.

(D) Acknowledge that program evaluations will be based upon the criteria in Section 8427.

(9) Certify that the applicant has complied with all federal requirements in preparing and submitting the application.

(g) The department shall not establish minimum attendance requirements for individual pupils.

(h) It is the intent of the Legislature, that, to the extent possible, the department require applicants to submit the information required by this section in a short and concise manner.