PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must create and run a school system overseas for military dependents. If a DoD school is not reasonably available, the Secretary may pay tuition so dependents can attend other schools, including U.S. private boarding schools, as long as those schools provide an education the Secretary finds acceptable. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security (for the Coast Guard when it is not part of the Navy) may give financial help to families to cover school costs in those overseas areas. Each Secretary must write rules about when that help is available, and those rules should, as much as possible, match State Department rules. A service member who was on active duty on September 30, 1990, and who was involuntarily separated between October 1, 1990, and December 31, 2001, may keep a dependent enrolled for the dependent’s final year of high school if the child was in 11th grade at the time of separation and was likely to finish high school within one year. Dependents taught at home but eligible for DoD schools may use extra school services—like academic resources, the library, after-hours use of facilities, and music, sports, and other extracurricular or interscholastic activities—without having to enroll full time or sign up for a minimum number of courses, though they must meet other eligibility and behavior rules.

Title 20, §926

Education, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Establishment and operation

The Secretary of Defense shall establish and operate a school system for dependents in overseas areas as part of the defense dependents’ education system.

(b)Tuition and assistance when schools unavailable

(1)Under such circumstances as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe in regulations, the Secretary may provide tuition to allow dependents in an overseas area where a school operated by the Secretary is not reasonably available to attend schools other than schools established under subsection (a) on a tuition-free basis. Schools to which tuition may be paid under this subsection may include private boarding schools in the United States. Any school to which tuition is paid under this subsection to allow a dependent in an overseas area to attend such school shall provide an educational program satisfactory to the Secretary.

(2)(A)The Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service of the Navy, may provide financial assistance to sponsors of dependents in overseas areas where schools operated by the Secretary of Defense under subsection (a) are not reasonably available in order to assist the sponsors to defray the costs incurred by the sponsors for the attendance of the dependents at schools in such areas other than schools operated by the Secretary of Defense.

(B)The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall each prescribe regulations relating to the availability of financial assistance under subparagraph (A). Such regulations shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be consistent with Department of State regulations relating to the availability of financial assistance for the education of dependents of Department of State personnel overseas.

(c)Continuation of enrollment for certain dependents of members of Armed Forces involuntarily separated

(1)A member of the Armed Forces serving on active duty on September 30, 1990, who is involuntarily separated during the period beginning on October 1, 1990, and ending on December 31, 2001, and who has a dependent described in paragraph (2) who is enrolled in a school of the defense dependents’ education system (or a school for which tuition is provided under subsection (b)) on the date of that separation shall be eligible to enroll or continue the enrollment of that dependent at that school (or another school serving the same community) for the final year of secondary education of that dependent in the same manner as if the member were still on active duty.

(2)A dependent referred to in paragraph (1) is a dependent who on the date of the separation of the member has completed the eleventh grade and is likely to complete secondary education within the one-year period beginning on that date.

(d)Auxiliary services available to home school students

(1)A dependent who is educated in a home school setting, but who is eligible to enroll in a school of the defense dependents’ education system, shall be permitted to use or receive auxiliary services of that school without being required to either enroll in that school or register for a minimum number of courses offered by that school. The dependent may be required to satisfy other eligibility requirements and comply with standards of conduct applicable to students actually enrolled in that school who use or receive the same auxiliary services.

(2)For purposes of paragraph (1), the term “auxiliary services” includes use of academic resources, access to the library of the school, after hours use of school facilities, and participation in music, sports, and other extracurricular and interscholastic activities.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is comprised of section 1407 of Pub. L. 95–561. Subsec. (e), formerly subsec. (c), of section 1407 enacted section 489 of Title 37, Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 110–181 inserted after first sentence “Schools to which tuition may be paid under this subsection may include private boarding schools in the United States.” 2002—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 107–296 substituted “of Homeland Security” for “of Transportation” in two places. 2001—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–107 added subsec. (d) and redesignated former subsec. (d) as (e). See Codification note above. 2000—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 106–398 substituted “

December 31, 2001” for “

September 30, 2001”. 1998—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–261, § 657, inserted heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “Under such circumstances as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe in

Regulations

, the Secretary” for “Under such circumstances as he may by regulation prescribe, the Secretary of Defense”, and added par. (2). Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 105–261, § 561(k), substituted “during the period beginning on

October 1, 1990, and ending on

September 30, 2001” for “during the nine-year period beginning on

October 1, 1990”. 1993—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 103–160 substituted “nine-year period” for “five-year period”. 1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–510 added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d). See Codification note above.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

§926 School System for Dependents in Overseas Areas