Florida Senate - 2024 SB 46 By Senator Stewart 17-00223-24 202446__ Page 1 of 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1

An act relating to the Reading Achievement Initiative 2 for Scholastic Excellence Program; amending s. 3 1008.365, F.S.; providing that tutoring provided 4 through the tutoring program established as part of 5 the Reading Achievement Initiative for Scholastic 6 Excellence Program may be provided after the school 7 day; authorizing school districts that participate in 8 the tutoring program to provide a stipend to 9 instructional personnel and high school students who 10 serve as tutors under the program; conforming 11 provisions to changes made by the act; providing an 12 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 grounded in the science of reading and aligned to the 24 English Language Arts standards under s. 1003.41, which prepares 25 eligible high school students to tutor students in kindergarten 26 through grade 3 in schools identified under this section, 27 instilling in those students a love of reading and improving 28 their literacy skills. 29 Florida Senate - 2024 SB 46 17-00223-24 202446__ Page 2 of 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (

a) To be eligible to participate in the tutoring program, 30 a high school student must be a rising junior or senior who has 31 a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, has no 32 history of out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, is on track 33 to complete all core course requirements to graduate, and has 34 written recommendations from at least two of his or her present 35 or former high school teachers of record or extracurricular 36 activity sponsors. 37 (

b) School districts that wish to participate in the 38 tutoring program must recruit, train, and deploy eligible high 39 school students using the materials developed under this 40 section. Tutoring must occur during or after the school day on 41 school district property in the presence and under the 42 supervision of instructional personnel who are school district 43 employees. A parent must give written permission for his or her 44 child to receive tutoring through the program. 45 (

c) Tutoring may be part of a service-learning course 46 adopted pursuant to s. 1003.497. Students may earn up to three 47 elective credits for high school graduation based on the 48 verified number of hours the student spends tutoring under the 49 program. The hours of volunteer service must be documented in 50 writing, and the document must be signed by the student, the 51 student’s parent or guardian, and an administrator or designee 52 of the school in which the tutoring occurred.

Unpaid The hours 53 that a high school student devotes to tutoring may be counted 54 toward meeting community service requirements for high school 55 graduation and community service requirements for participation 56 in the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program as provided in 57 s. 1003.497(3)(b).

The department shall designate a high school 58 Florida Senate - 2024 SB 46 17-00223-24 202446__ Page 3 of 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. student who provides at least 75 verified hours of tutoring 59 under the program as a New Worlds Scholar and award the student 60 with a pin indicating such designation. 61 (

d) School districts participating in the tutoring program 62 may provide a stipend to instructional personnel and high school 63 students serving as tutors for after-school tutoring. 64

Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 65