Bill Text: NJ S185 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Elementary Home Reading Grant Program; appropriates $500,000 to DOE from federal funds.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S185 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S185-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator VINCENT J. POLISTINA
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Elementary Home Reading Grant Program; appropriates $500,000 to DOE from federal funds.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing the Elementary Home Reading Grant Program, supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall establish and administer the Elementary Home Reading Grant Program. The purpose of the program shall be to increase reading opportunities and parental engagement for elementary school students throughout the State in order to improve reading proficiency.
b. The grant program shall support home reading programs implemented by school districts in partnership with nonprofit organizations. A school district shall partner with a nonprofit organization that provides a home reading program. The home reading program shall, at a minimum, meet the following criteria:
(1) mail independent reading level books to the residences of elementary school students on a weekly basis;
(2) incorporate weekly telephone calls, texts, or application notifications in multiple languages to a parent or guardian to encourage parental and family engagement;
(3) build on pedagogical and literacy principles to improve reading comprehension;
(4) provide at least six and not more than nine books a student may permanently keep which are to be chosen by the student;
(5) include a customizable portal to generate individualized data reports for analysis of student progress; and
(6) annually collect, disaggregate, and distribute detailed data to the commissioner on metrics of the program including parental engagement, the number of books read, and non-identifying demographic data.
2. a. A school district wishing to participate in the grant program shall submit an application to the Department of Education in a form prescribed by the commissioner. An application shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) a detailed description of the home reading program and how it addresses the elements of a home reading program described in section 1 of this act;
(2) information on the nonprofit organization partnering with a school district to administer the home reading program;
(3) a description of the goals of the home reading program and a method of measuring student academic success and program outcomes;
(4) a description of the methods to be used to identify underperforming students for participation in the home reading program;
(5) the number of students able to be supported by the home reading program and the number of students expected to participate, if different;
(6) the projected per student and aggregate cost of implementing the home reading program; and
(7) any other information the commissioner deems necessary.
b. Grant awards shall be allocated to a school district on a competitive basis. In determining grant recipients, the commissioner shall consider, at minimum, a school district's plan with respect to the alignment with elements of high impact reading programs, the potential number of students impacted by the program, the need of a school district to supplement classroom learning to address reading proficiency, the number of economically disadvantaged students the home reading program will impact, and the estimated cost of implementing the program by a school district. The commissioner shall give preference to applications for programs that are set up to function for more than four years and can continue to operate beyond the duration of available grant funding. To the extent possible, the commissioner shall select grant recipients from the northern, central, and southern regions of the State, and shall seek a cross section of school districts from urban, suburban, and rural areas.
c. Grant funds shall be awarded to a participating school district on a matching basis, subject to the limits of available funding. Per student costs proposed by a school district for home reading programs shall be matched by the State at 100 percent. Any matched funds that are unexpended at the end of the State fiscal year shall revert to the State.
d. The department shall determine allowable uses for grant funds prior to accepting applications to participate in the grant program and shall describe the allowable uses in a notice of grant opportunity.
3. The Commissioner of Education shall submit a report to the Governor and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than two years after the establishment of the Elementary Home Reading Grant Program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on the number of grant applicants, the number and amounts of the grant awards, the number of elementary school students participating in the program, information provided by home reading programs under subsection b. of section 1 of this act, information on the impact of home reading programs on reading proficiency, and any recommendations concerning the continuation or expansion of the grant program.
4. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Education the sum of $500,000 from a portion of those unexpended federal funds allocated to the State to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, for use by the department to provide grant funding to school districts that participate in the Elementary Home Reading Grant Program established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). To the extent that the unexpended federal funds do not cover the entirety of the funding for the grant program established pursuant to this act, the Legislature may appropriate additional funds as necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would establish the Elementary Home Reading Grant Program to increase reading opportunities and parental engagement for elementary students around the State in order to improve reading proficiency. The grant program would support school districts in partnering with nonprofit organizations providing home reading programs.
Each home reading program would be required to meet certain minimum criteria, including (1) mailing independent reading level books to the residences of elementary school students on a weekly basis; (2) incorporating weekly phone calls, texts, or application notifications in multiple languages to a parent or guardian; (3) building on pedagogical and literacy principles; (4) providing at least six and not more than nine books for a student to permanently keep; (5) providing a customizable portal to generate individualized data reports for analysis of student progress; and (6) collection, disaggregation, and distribution of detailed data on metrics of the program including parental engagement, the number of books read, and non-identifying demographic data.
A school district wishing to participate in the grant program would submit an application to the Department of Education in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Education. The application would be required to include: (1) a detailed description of the home reading program; (2) information on the nonprofit organization partnering with a school district to administer the home reading program; (3) a description of the goals of the home reading program and a method of measuring student academic success and program outcomes; (4) a description of the methods to be used to identify underperforming students for participation in the home reading program; (5) the number of students able to be supported by the home reading program and the number of students expected to participate; (6) the projected per student and aggregate cost of implementing the home reading program; and (7) any other information the commissioner deems necessary.
Under the bill, grant funds would be awarded to participating school districts on a matching basis. Per student costs proposed by a school district would be matched by the State at 100 percent.
The bill would appropriate $500,000 for the grant program. The funding for the program would first be provided by any available unexpended federal funds. The Legislature may appropriate additional funds for the grant program.
