2. The principal or administrator of the pupil's school discusses the
documentation with the teacher and the pupil's parent, determines that promoting
the pupil is appropriate, and submits that recommendation to the school board,
operator, or governing body.

3. The pupil's parent agrees with the recommendation.

4. The school board, operator, or governing body reviews the recommendation
and agrees that promoting the pupil is appropriate.

Under current law, school boards and operators of independent charter schools
must annually assess pupils enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten to second grade
for reading readiness using an assessment of literacy fundamentals selected by the
school board or operator. Under current law, if a reading readiness assessment

indicates that a pupil is at risk of reading difficulty, the school board or operator must
provide interventions or remedial reading services to the pupil.

The bill provides that, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, a school board or
operator must, in addition to the assessment required under current law, annually
assess, using a diagnostic assessment, a pupil enrolled in four-year-old
kindergarten to second grade to whom any of the following applies: 1) the pupil's
parent requests the diagnostic assessment; 2) an assessment administered under
current law indicates that the pupil is at risk of reading difficulty; or 3) the pupil has
been identified as having characteristics of dyslexia. The bill defines “ diagnostic
assessment” as a tool that includes 1) an assessment that evaluates a pupil's skill in
the areas of phonemic awareness, decoding skills, rapid naming, alphabet
knowledge, letter sound knowledge, oral vocabulary, phonological awareness, word
recognition, spelling, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and, when
developmentally appropriate for the pupil, oral reading fluency and reading
comprehension; and 2) an opportunity for a pupil's parent to complete a family
history survey to provide additional information about learning difficulties in the
pupil's family.

Under current law, school boards and operators must report the results of
reading readiness assessments to pupils' parents. The bill provides that, beginning
in the 2023-24 school year, the pupil's teacher or the principal or administrator of
the pupil's school must provide the parental notification. In addition, if a pupil's
assessment indicates that the pupil is at risk of reading difficulty, the teacher,
principal, or administrator also must provide all of the following to the pupil's parent:

1. A list of the interventions or remedial reading services that will be provided
to the pupil.

2. A form on which the parent may acknowledge receipt of the information and
may indicate that the parent understands the information.

3. A request that the parent sign the form and return the signed form to the
sender.

The bill requires a school board or operator annually to report to the
Department of Public Instruction the results of pupil assessments and the
interventions and remedial reading services the school board or operator provided
to pupils in the previous school year. The bill also requires DPI annually to compile
and submit that information to the appropriate standing committees of the
legislature.

The bill allows DPI to award grants in the 2023-24 school year, in amounts
determined by DPI, to school boards to provide support and financial assistance to
their licensed teachers for the purpose of obtaining additional licensure as reading
teachers. In awarding grants under the bill, DPI must give priority to school districts
with high numbers of pupils whose scores on the most recent standardized third
grade reading test were lower than proficient, as determined by DPI. A school board
that receives a grant under the bill must use the grant moneys to pay costs associated
with its teachers obtaining licensure as reading teachers and must pay to a teacher
who successfully obtains a reading teacher license a bonus payment of $1,000.

The bill provides for the grants to be paid from moneys that become available
as a result of the sunsetting of the Achievement Gap Reduction program (described
below).

The bill sunsets the Achievement Gap Reduction program by prohibiting DPI
from entering into any new contracts, or renewing any existing contracts, with school
boards on or after the effective date of the bill. Under current law, the program is
a categorical aid program that provides funding to a participating school for
low-income pupils enrolled in certain grades if the school complies with a five-year
contract entered into between DPI and the school board of the school district in which
the school is located. Currently, a contract may be renewed for one or more terms of
five school years.

Under current law, DPI annually must pay to a school board under contract
with DPI a per pupil amount determined by 1) subtracting $125,000 from the total
amount appropriated for the program for the school year; 2) adding the total number
of low-income pupils enrolled in grades kindergarten to three in all schools
participating in the program; and 3) dividing the difference calculated under item
1 by the sum calculated under item 2. That calculation results in the entire amount
appropriated for the program being paid in each school year.

The bill changes the per pupil payment amount by fixing that amount at the per
pupil amount calculated for the 2022-23 school year. In other words, beginning in
the 2023-24 school year, DPI pays a school board under contract with DPI a per pupil
amount that is equal to the per pupil amount DPI paid in the 2022-23 school year.
The bill provides that, if the amount appropriated to DPI is insufficient to pay the
full per pupil amount, DPI must prorate the payments among the school boards
eligible for payment.

The bill provides that any grants DPI awards in the 2023-24 school year to
increase licensure of reading teachers (described above) will be paid from the
Achievement Gap Reduction program appropriation account.

The bill requires a school board, the operator of an independent charter school,
or the governing body of a private school participating in a parental choice program
to develop or adopt a program to identify and address pupils with dyslexia.

The bill prohibits a school board, the operator of an independent charter school,
or the governing body of a private school participating in a parental choice program
from allowing the parent of a pupil in any grade from kindergarten to three to excuse
the pupil from taking a standardized test.