10 U.S.C. § 2164b — Eligibility of certain dependents for enrollment in domestic dependent elementary and secondary schools

(a) Program Authorized . — Beginning not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, the Secretary of Defense must carry out a program under which a dependent of a full-time, active-duty member of the armed forces^* can enroll in a covered DODEA school at the military installation to which the member is assigned, on a space-available basis as described in subsection (b), without regard to whether the member resides on the installation as described in section 2164(a)(1) of this title .

(b) Enrollment on Space-available Basis . — A student participating in the program under subsection

(a) can be enrolled in a covered DODEA school only if the school has the capacity to accept the student, as determined by the Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity.

(c) Locations . — The Secretary must select military installations for participation in the program under subsection

(a) based on — (1) the readiness needs of the Secretary of the military department concerned; and
(2) the capacity of the covered DODEA schools located at the installation to accept additional students, as determined by the Director.

(d) Briefings Required. — (1) In general . — Not later than April 1, 2025 , and annually thereafter for four years, the Secretary must brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives on the program under subsection (a).
(2) Elements . — Each briefing required by paragraph
(1) must include the following:
(A) An identification of the military installations participating in the program under subsection (a).
(B) The number of students enrolled in covered DODEA schools under the program.

(e) Notifications of Participating Installations . — Not later than 90 days before officially announcing the participation of a new military installation in the program under subsection (a), the Secretary must notify the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives for the participation of the installation.

(f) Covered DODEA School Defined . — In this section, the term “covered DODEA school” means a domestic dependent elementary or secondary school operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity that — (1) was established on or before the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025; and
(2) is located in the continental United States.