Today, many students experience multiple school moves over the course of their education due to housing instability, foster placements, moves related to family members serving in the military and more. When this happens, there is the risk of disruption to student learning, poor educational outcomes, loss of social support and difficulty adapting to a new school curriculum and environment. According to the National Institute of Health, “Students experiencing at least one move over a 12-month period have a roughly 50 percent decreased likelihood of obtaining a high school diploma by the age of 25.”

The state has passed legislation intended to minimize the impact of the challenges that “highly mobile” students face. Education Code Section 51225.1 addresses the academic risks faced by highly mobile students by providing eligible foster youth, students experiencing homelessness, former juvenile court school students, children of a military family, students who are migratory and students participating in a newcomer program with an exemption from school district- or county office of education-adopted graduation requirements that are in addition to the statewide course requirements. Additionally, Education Code 51225.2 provides highly mobile students protections and opportunities to minimize the potential loss of academic credits and coursework that can occur when they transfer schools by requiring the local educational agency from which the student is leaving and the LEA in which the student is enrolling to take specified measures when transferring coursework and credits.

Previously, CSBA’s sample policies had model language related to the exemption from locally adopted graduation requirements and the transfer of coursework and credits spread across five policies, each of which addresses a specific group of highly mobile students. In the February Policy Update Packet, policy language related to the exemption from locally adopted graduation requirements for highly mobile student populations has been consolidated to one location: sample Board Policy (BP) 6146.1 – High School Graduation requirements. This sample policy also includes eligibility criteria, notification requirements and district responsibilities. It is also worth noting that a county office-specific version of BP 6146.1 was created to reflect Assembly Bill 2181 (2024), which extends the graduation exemption to current juvenile court school students.

BP 6146.1 was also updated to qualify that the graduation requirement for a one-semester course in ethnic studies, beginning with the 2029–30 school year, is contingent on state funding; to add the requirement, beginning in the 2030–31 school year, for students to complete a stand-alone one-semester course in personal finance; and to specify the indefinite extension of the authorization for career technical education to count toward the visual or performing arts or world language graduation requirement.

Similarly, policy language related to the transfer of coursework and credits for highly mobile students was spread across multiple sample policies. This language will now be consolidated in one location — sample Administrative Regulation (AR) 6146.3 – Reciprocity of Academic Credit, which includes eligibility criteria, procedures, notification requirements and district responsibilities related to the transfer of coursework and credits for highly mobile student populations. A COE-specific version of this regulation was also created to reflect AB 2181, which extends the transfer of coursework and credit requirements to current juvenile court school students.

Finally, the Legislature has created and recently revised a graduation exemption from locally established graduation requirements for eligible students with disabilities. Education Code sections 51225.31 and 51225.32 authorize LEAs to exempt eligible students with disabilities from graduation requirements that are in addition to the statewide course requirements. Previously, the policy language and requirements related to this exemption were in multiple locations. This language will now be consolidated in sample BP 6146.4 – Differential Graduation and Competency Standards for Students with Disabilities.

By centralizing the locations of the legal requirements that address the exemptions from graduation requirements for eligible highly mobile students and students with disabilities, and the requirements surrounding the transfer of coursework and credits for highly mobile students, boards and administrators will be able to access this information more easily, which should help for a better understanding and implementation of these requirements.