During the 2021 Legislative Session, the Florida House of Representatives passed House Bill 3 which, among other things, created Florida Statute 1003.485, entitled The New Worlds Reading Initiative. This Initiative creates an Administrative body, to wit: UF Lastinger Center, (“Provider”) which gathers information (“Data”) from each of the School Districts throughout the State of Florida, which data identifies all students in kindergarten through grade 5, in both District run schools and Charter schools, who have a substantial reading deficiency identified under sec. 1008.25(5)(a) or who scored below a Level 3 on the preceding years statewide standardized English Language Arts assessment under sec. 1008.22. The data will be utilized by the Provider to communicate with the parents of said students and to provide books to said students on a monthly basis by home delivery. The topics and genres of the books provided are chosen by the students who will be receiving said books. The subject Data Sharing Agreement sets forth minimal parameters governing the sharing of student information with the UF Lastinger Center by the School District of Clay County.

The program is mandatory. Failure to approve the Data Sharing Agreement will result in a delay in implementing the Initiative, with unknown repercussions from the Florida Department of Education.

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Approval of this item will result in the District providing student information to the Administrator as required by statute.

Ensure the implementation of strategies to improve student literacy.

Approve the Data Sharing Agreement between The University of Florida Board of Trustees, a public body corporate for the UF Lastinger Center and the School Board of Clay County, Florida.