Its members are charged with administering the City Public School system. Beginning with the graduating class of 1999, students enrolled in CHS are required to complete fifty hours of community service during grades nine through twelve as a condition to receiving a diploma. Failure to complete the program makes a student ineligible for graduation, and the program does not contain an opt-out provision for students who object to performing community service. The community service required by the program must be performed after school, on weekends or holidays, or over summer recesses. Students are required to perform a minimum of two different types of service.
Clerical work is limited to no more than eight hours, as are fundraising activities.
The community service coordinator at CHS keeps on file a list of approved agencies and organizations for whom students may work to satisfy the program requirements. The list of organizations is extensive and includes may with significantly different purposes and philosophies. No pay may be earned for community service work under the program, and no work for political parties or for individual candidates for elective office may be credited. Students may also receive credit for service performed for organizations which are not included on the list of approved organizations, provided that approval is first sought from the Service Learning Committee at CHS, a group of teachers, students, and community volunteers charged with administering the program. In the event of a dispute about such an organization, the principal of CHS is the final arbiter of community service credit.