(a) A governing board of a school district and a county office of education may undertake any or all of the following in order to properly address the needs of military dependents:

(1) Establish a course credit transfer policy for schoolage military dependents provided that, under the policy, the military dependents would still substantially meet the graduation requirements prescribed by the governing board. A school district may require a military dependent, within reason, to meet the graduation requirements of the district, established pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 51225.3, that are in addition to state graduation requirements.

(2) Provide early entry transfer, pretranscript evaluation, pupil support services, and other similar assistance to aid schoolage military dependents in meeting graduation requirements.

(b) A governing board of a school district may take the actions described in subdivision (a) if both of the following circumstances have been met:

(1) The parent or legal guardian of the military dependent is serving on active duty or has been discharged from military service within the last year.

(2) The transfer of the military dependent to a new school is the direct result of a military transfer or discharge of the parent or legal guardian of the dependent.

(c) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “Early entry transfer” means that a pupil shall have completed the transfer process prior to arriving on the campus of the school to which the pupil is transferring and that upon arrival at the school to which the pupil is transferring, the pupil shall be able to attend his or her assigned classes and participate in his or her desired extracurricular activities, if the pupil meets the eligibility requirements for those activities.

(2) “Pretranscript evaluation” means that the school to which the pupil is transferring shall review the coursework-to-date of the pupil, including any unofficial transcripts, prior to the receipt of official transcripts or the arrival of the pupil. This evaluation process shall be designed to clarify any questions about the placement of the pupil in classes at the school to which the pupil is transferring and shall include communication with school counselors and teachers at the school from which the pupil is transferring by any or all of the following means: videoconferencing, e-mail correspondence, and telephone calls.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 130, Sec. 74. Effective January 1, 2008.)