Senate Bill 206, sponsored by Senator Steve Kroll, would increase the per-student cap for the literacy tutoring grant from $500 to $1,500.

Kroll told the committee last year’s per-student award proved insufficient and that the change reflects feedback from program administrators. He said the program currently has about $9 million in funds and that the increase would not hit the state general revenue because it uses one-time funds. Jacob Alleva of the Department of Education confirmed the funding is one-time and said the department estimates the current balance would fund the program for roughly two to two-and-a-half years at higher per-student awards.

The committee discussed program usage: the sponsor said about 5,398 students participated last year and roughly 30% of recipients used the entire previous per-student allocation. The department said awards are “up to” the cap and that many participants do not use the full amount. The committee voted to pass the bill without opposition.

The department told senators it expects to report outcome data to the Legislature in the future to allow evaluation of the program’s reading outcomes and to inform potential future funding decisions.