(1) The board of a school district shall establish and carry on the grades, schools, and departments it considers necessary or desirable for the maintenance and improvement of its schools and determine the courses of study to be pursued.

    (2) The board of a school district shall provide a core academic curriculum, learning processes, special assistance particularly for students with reading disorders or who have demonstrated marked difficulty in achieving success on standardized tests, and sufficient access to each of these so that all pupils have a fair opportunity to achieve a state endorsement under section 1279. The board shall use Michigan education assessment program (MEAP) test results as an indicator of which pupils need special assistance to have a fair opportunity to achieve state endorsement under section 1279 and of whether the school district’s curriculum is adequately aligned to prepare pupils to achieve that state endorsement. This special assistance may include at least 1 meeting attended by at least the pupil and a member of the school district’s staff or a local or intermediate school district consultant who is knowledgeable in the measurement and evaluation of pupils. The school district may provide the meeting as a group meeting for pupils in similar circumstances. If the pupil is a minor, the school district shall invite and encourage the pupil’s parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to attend the meeting and shall mail a notice of the meeting to the pupil’s parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis. The purpose of this meeting and any subsequent meeting under this subsection should be to determine an educational program for the pupil designed to assist the pupil to be prepared to achieve state endorsement under section 1279. In addition, the school district may provide for subsequent meetings with the pupil conducted by a counselor or teacher designated by the pupil’s principal, and shall invite and encourage the pupil’s parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to attend the subsequent meetings. The school district may provide special programs for the pupil or develop a program using the educational programs regularly provided by the school district.