Florida Senate - 2023 SB 290
By Senator Jones
34-00724-23 2023290__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public school student progression
3 for students with disabilities; amending s. 1008.25,
4 F.S.; requiring comprehensive plans for student
5 progression to provide for specified students with
6 disabilities to be retained in prekindergarten at the
7 discretion of a student’s parent; requiring such
8 students to receive intensive reading interventions;
9 revising the requirements for certain students with
10 disabilities to receive a good cause exemption from
11 mandatory retention in grade 3; providing an effective
12 date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) and paragraph
17 (b) of subsection (6) of section 1008.25, Florida Statutes, are
18 amended, and paragraph (g) is added to subsection (2) of that
19 section, to read:
20 1008.25 Public school student progression; student support;
21 coordinated screening and progress monitoring; reporting
22 requirements.—
23 (2) STUDENT PROGRESSION PLAN.—Each district school board
24 shall establish a comprehensive plan for student progression
25 which must provide for a student’s progression from one grade to
26 another based on the student’s mastery of the standards in s.
27 1003.41, specifically English Language Arts, mathematics,
28 science, and social studies standards. The plan must:
29 (g) Allow the parent of a student with disabilities who is
30 enrolled in prekindergarten at the age of 4 and is fully funded
31 through the Florida Education Finance Program to retain his or
32 her child in consultation with the individual education plan
33 team.
34 (5) READING DEFICIENCY AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION.—
35 (b) A Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program student
36 who exhibits a substantial deficiency in early literacy skills
37 in accordance with the standards under s. 1002.67(1)(a) and
38 based upon the results of the administration of the final
39 coordinated screening and progress monitoring under subsection
40 (8) shall be referred to the local school district and may be
41 eligible to receive intensive reading interventions before
42 participating in kindergarten. A student with an individual
43 education plan who has been retained pursuant to paragraph
44 (2)(g) shall receive intensive reading interventions. Such
45 intensive reading interventions shall be paid for using funds
46 from the district’s evidence-based reading instruction
47 allocation in accordance with s. 1011.62(8).
48 (6) ELIMINATION OF SOCIAL PROMOTION.—
49 (b) The district school board may only exempt students from
50 mandatory retention, as provided in paragraph (5)(c), for good
51 cause. A student who is promoted to grade 4 with a good cause
52 exemption shall be provided intensive reading instruction and
53 intervention that include specialized diagnostic information and
54 specific reading strategies to meet the needs of each student so
55 promoted. The school district shall assist schools and teachers
56 with the implementation of explicit, systematic, and
57 multisensory reading instruction and intervention strategies for
58 students promoted with a good cause exemption which research has
59 shown to be successful in improving reading among students who
60 have reading difficulties. Good cause exemptions are limited to
61 the following:
62 1. Limited English proficient students who have had less
63 than 2 years of instruction in an English for Speakers of Other
64 Languages program based on the initial date of entry into a
65 school in the United States.
66 2. Students with disabilities whose individual education
67 plan indicates that participation in the statewide assessment
68 program is not appropriate, consistent with the requirements of
69 s. 1008.212.
70 3. Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of
71 performance on an alternative standardized reading or English
72 Language Arts assessment approved by the State Board of
73 Education.
74 4. A student who demonstrates through a student portfolio
75 that he or she is performing at least at Level 2 on the
76 statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment.
77 5. Students with disabilities who take the statewide,
78 standardized English Language Arts assessment and who have an
79 individual education plan or a Section 504 plan that reflects
80 that the student has received intensive instruction in reading
81 or English Language Arts for more than 2 years but still
82 demonstrates a deficiency and was previously retained in
83 prekindergarten pursuant to paragraph (2)(g), kindergarten,
84 grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3.
85 6. Students who have received intensive reading
86 intervention for 2 or more years but still demonstrate a
87 deficiency in reading and who were previously retained in
88 kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3 for a total of 2
89 years. A student may not be retained more than once in grade 3.
90 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.