House Bill 912
By: Representatives Wilkerson of the 38th, Smith of the 41st, Carter of the 93rd, Ballard of the
147th, Cox of the 28th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 9 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to grants for educational programs under the "Quality Basic Education
Act," so as to provide for up to $500,000.00 in matching grants by the State Board of
Education to local units of administration for the purpose of providing home reading
programs for students in kindergarten through fourth grade; to authorize the State Board of
Education to receive and administer federal funds for such grants; to provide for eligibility;
to require the State Board of Education to develop rules and regulations; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 9 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to grants for educational programs under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is
amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
<ins>"20-2-259.1.
(a) Subject to available funding, the State Board of Education shall provide matching
grants to qualified local units of administration to provide an eligible home reading
program for students in kindergarten through fourth grade. Such matching grant funds
shall be distributed by the Department of Education.
(b) A home reading program is eligible for matching grant funds provided pursuant to this
Code section if it is provided in partnership with an affiliated local unit of administration
by a nonprofit organization that meets the following requirements:
(1) Delivers an evidence based, self-selected reading program consisting of independent
reading level books that are individually mailed to the residences of or made available for
electronic download to students in kindergarten through fourth grade on a weekly basis;
(2) Incorporates at least weekly telephone calls, texts, or application notifications in
multiple languages to a parent or guardian to drive parental and family engagement
throughout the duration of the program;
(3) Builds on pedagogical principles of literacy instruction to scaffold fluency and
improve reading comprehension with student exercises;
(4) Includes a customizable portal to generate individualized data reports for analysis of
student progress by program providers, affiliated local units of administration, and
parents and guardians;
(5) Collects, disaggregates, and distributes detailed data on all metrics of the program,
such as engagement of parents or guardians, books read, and allowable demographic data;
(6) Provides a summary of data on all students served by the program to the Department
of Education;
(7) Agrees to secure the required matching funds from the participating local unit of
administration and maintain auditable verification of the receipt; and
(8) The combined total cost of the program, including district matching funds, does not
exceed $50.00 per student per semester.
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<ins>(c) The total amount of matching grant funds provided by the State Board of Education
pursuant to this Code section shall not exceed $500,000.00 each state fiscal year.
(d) The State Board of Education is authorized to receive and administer federal funds to
provide matching grant funds pursuant to this Code section. The Department of Education
shall serve as a state level flow through point for any available federal funding.
(e) The State Board of Education shall prescribe criteria, policies, and standards deemed
necessary for the effective implementation of this Code section."
</ins> SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.