‘(a) In General- From the amounts appropriated to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Corporation may make grants and fixed-amount grants (in accordance with section 129(l)) with eligible entities for activities described in subsection (c).

‘(b) Definitions- For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES- The term ‘eligible entity’ means a State education agency, a State Commission, a Territory, an Indian tribe, an institution of higher education, or a public or private nonprofit organization (including community-based organizations), a public or private elementary or secondary school, a local educational agency, or a consortia of such entities, where a consortia of two or more such entities may also include a for-profit organization.

‘(2) YOUTH ENGAGEMENT ZONE- The term ‘youth engagement zone’ means the area in which a youth engagement zone program is carried out.

‘(3) YOUTH ENGAGEMENT ZONE PROGRAM- The term ‘youth engagement zone program’ means a service learning program in which members of an eligible partnership described in paragraph (4) collaborate to provide coordinated school-based or community-based service learning opportunities, to address a specific community challenge, for an increasing percentage of out-of-school youth and secondary school students served by local educational agencies where--

‘(A) not less than 90 percent of the students participate in service-learning activities as part of the program; or

‘(B) service-learning is a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.

‘(4) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP-

‘(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘eligible partnership’ means--

‘(i) one or more community-based agencies that have demonstrated records of success in carrying out service-learning programs with disadvantaged students, and that meet such criteria as the Chief Executive Officer may establish; in combination with;

‘(ii) (I) one or more local educational agencies for which--

‘(aa) a high number or percentage of the students served by the agency, as determined by the Corporation, are disadvantaged students; and

‘(bb) the graduation rate for the secondary school students served by the agency is less than 70 percent; or

‘(II) a State Commission; or

‘(III) a State educational agency.

‘(B) ADDITIONAL ENTITIES- An eligible partnership may also include--

‘(i) a local government agency that is not described in subparagraph (A);

‘(ii) the office of the chief executive officer of a unit of general local government; or

‘(iii) an institution of higher education.

So what this says if the school has some type of service requirement as part of a curriculum, (such as volunteering at hospitals, etc.) then it is eligible for these grants. It is not imposing such a requirement on the schools.