Florida Senate - 2023                                    SB 1558
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       17-01441-23                                           20231558__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Reading Achievement Initiative
    3         for Scholastic Excellence Program; amending s.
    4         1008.365, F.S.; authorizing tutoring provided through
    5         the tutoring program within the Reading Achievement
    6         Initiative for Scholastic Excellence Program to be
    7         provided after the school day; conforming provisions
    8         to changes made by the act; authorizing school
    9         districts that participate in the tutoring program to
   10         provide a stipend to instructional personnel and high
   11         school students serving as tutors for after-school
   12         tutoring; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 1008.365, Florida
   17  Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         1008.365 Reading Achievement Initiative for Scholastic
   19  Excellence Act.—
   20         (8) As part of the RAISE Program, the department shall
   21  establish a tutoring program and develop training in effective
   22  reading tutoring practices and content, based on evidence-based
   23  practices and aligned to the English Language Arts standards
   24  under s. 1003.41, which prepares eligible high school students
   25  to tutor students in kindergarten through grade 3 in schools
   26  identified under this section, instilling in those students a
   27  love of reading and improving their literacy skills.
   28         (a) To be eligible to participate in the tutoring program,
   29  a high school student must be a rising junior or senior who has
   30  a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, has no
   31  history of out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, is on track
   32  to complete all core course requirements to graduate, and has
   33  written recommendations from at least two of his or her present
   34  or former high school teachers of record or extracurricular
   35  activity sponsors.
   36         (b) School districts that wish to participate in the
   37  tutoring program must recruit, train, and deploy eligible high
   38  school students using the materials developed under this
   39  section. Tutoring must occur during or after the school day on
   40  school district property in the presence and under the
   41  supervision of instructional personnel who are school district
   42  employees. A parent must give written permission for his or her
   43  child to receive tutoring through the program.
   44         (c) Tutoring may be part of a service-learning course
   45  adopted pursuant to s. 1003.497. Students may earn up to three
   46  elective credits for high school graduation based on the
   47  verified number of hours the student spends tutoring under the
   48  program. The hours of volunteer service must be documented in
   49  writing, and the document must be signed by the student, the
   50  student’s parent or guardian, and an administrator or designee
   51  of the school in which the tutoring occurred. Unpaid The hours
   52  that a high school student devotes to tutoring may be counted
   53  toward meeting community service requirements for high school
   54  graduation and community service requirements for participation
   55  in the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program as provided in
   56  s. 1003.497(3)(b). The department shall designate a high school
   57  student who provides at least 75 verified hours of tutoring
   58  under the program as a New Worlds Scholar and award the student
   59  with a pin indicating such designation.
   60         (d) School districts participating in the tutoring program
   61  may provide a stipend to instructional personnel and high school
   62  students serving as tutors for after-school tutoring.
   63         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.