ENROLLED
       2024 Legislature                                           SB 46
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                               202446er
    1  
    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.