Florida Senate - 2024 SB 46
By Senator Stewart
17-00223-24 202446__
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.; providing that tutoring provided
5 through the tutoring program established as part of
6 the Reading Achievement Initiative for Scholastic
7 Excellence Program may be provided after the school
8 day; authorizing school districts that participate in
9 the tutoring program to provide a stipend to
10 instructional personnel and high school students who
11 serve as tutors under the program; conforming
12 provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
13 effective date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 1008.365, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 1008.365 Reading Achievement Initiative for Scholastic
20 Excellence Act.—
21 (8) As part of the RAISE Program, the department shall
22 establish a tutoring program and develop training in effective
23 reading tutoring practices and content, based on evidence-based
24 practices grounded in the science of reading and aligned to the
25 English Language Arts standards under s. 1003.41, which prepares
26 eligible high school students to tutor students in kindergarten
27 through grade 3 in schools identified under this section,
28 instilling in those students a love of reading and improving
29 their literacy skills.
30 (a) To be eligible to participate in the tutoring program,
31 a high school student must be a rising junior or senior who has
32 a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, has no
33 history of out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, is on track
34 to complete all core course requirements to graduate, and has
35 written recommendations from at least two of his or her present
36 or former high school teachers of record or extracurricular
37 activity sponsors.
38 (b) School districts that wish to participate in the
39 tutoring program must recruit, train, and deploy eligible high
40 school students using the materials developed under this
41 section. Tutoring must occur during or after the school day on
42 school district property in the presence and under the
43 supervision of instructional personnel who are school district
44 employees. A parent must give written permission for his or her
45 child to receive tutoring through the program.
46 (c) Tutoring may be part of a service-learning course
47 adopted pursuant to s. 1003.497. Students may earn up to three
48 elective credits for high school graduation based on the
49 verified number of hours the student spends tutoring under the
50 program. The hours of volunteer service must be documented in
51 writing, and the document must be signed by the student, the
52 student’s parent or guardian, and an administrator or designee
53 of the school in which the tutoring occurred. Unpaid The hours
54 that a high school student devotes to tutoring may be counted
55 toward meeting community service requirements for high school
56 graduation and community service requirements for participation
57 in the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program as provided in
58 s. 1003.497(3)(b). The department shall designate a high school
59 student who provides at least 75 verified hours of tutoring
60 under the program as a New Worlds Scholar and award the student
61 with a pin indicating such designation.
62 (d) School districts participating in the tutoring program
63 may provide a stipend to instructional personnel and high school
64 students serving as tutors for after-school tutoring.
65 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.