Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps: establishment and eligibility.

The bill was assigned Chapter 154 and received the official 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header, replacing the enrolled bill's passage lines and page headers.

The governor's approval date (August 27, 2026) and filing date with the Secretary of State (August 27, 2026) were added, confirming the bill became law on that date.

Removed subdivision (c)(2), which required local educational agencies to ensure equal access to JROTC programs for pupils enrolled in private schools, independent study, or a public school other than the one offering the program. Only homeschooled pupils retain the right to participate.

Changed the standard in subdivision (c)(1) from 'ensure equal access to permit membership' to simply 'permit membership,' removing the broader equal-access obligation and its associated definition.

Removed the definition of 'ensure equal access to the JROTC program' (which meant providing the same opportunities as pupils enrolled in the school offering the program) from subdivision (e).

Procedural formatting changes: removed line numbers, added Senate passage date (May 22, 2026), Assembly passage date (August 13, 2026), and governor's approval block consistent with enrolled bill format.

The bill now applies to any local educational agency (school district, charter school, or county office of education) maintaining a secondary school, rather than only school districts. This significantly expands which entities are required to offer JROTC access to out-of-school pupils.

For homeschooled pupils, the obligation changed from 'ensure equal access to the JROTC program' to 'ensure equal access to permit membership in the JROTC program.' This shifts the focus from providing equivalent opportunities to specifically requiring that membership be permitted.

A new definition was added stating that 'homeschooled pupil' has the same meaning as 'homeschooled student' used in Section 2031(f)(1) of Title 10 of the United States Code, aligning the California term with the federal JROTC statute.

A redundant sentence stating that no student enrolled in a school offering JROTC courses shall be required to enroll was removed from subdivision (a), as it duplicated the language already present in subdivision (b).