Menu
2026 Session

Budget Amendments - HB30 (Member Request)

View Budget Item
View Budget Item amendments

Chief Patron: Simonds
First Grade Literacy Safety Net

Item 124 #2h

Item 124 #2h

First Year - FY2027 Second Year - FY2028
Education: Elementary and Secondary
Direct Aid to Public Education FY2027 $12,500,000 FY2028 $12,500,000 GF

Language
Page 139, line 41, strike "$52,993,467" and insert "$65,493,467".
Page 139, line 41, strike "$52,235,967" and insert "$64,735,967".

Page 141, after line 27, insert:

"First Grade Literacy Safety Net $12,500,000 $12,500,000".

Page 152, after line 32, insert:

"EEE. Out of this appropriation, $12,500,000 the first year and $12,500,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to the Department of Education for the First Grade Literacy Safety Net to provide high-dosage tutoring for students in first grade who are identified as high risk based on the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS) administered pursuant to § 22.1-253.13:l, Code of Virginia.

1. For purposes of this appropriation, "high-dosage tutoring" means daily one-on-one tutoring delivered virtually by a trained tutor for up to 75 minutes of instructional time per week, for a full school year.

2. The Department shall establish an application process for school divisions to receive funding under this program. Priority shall be given to school divisions with the highest percentage of first-grade students identified as at high risk on the VALLSS screener.

3. Tutoring services funded through this program shall be delivered by licensed teachers, retired teachers, or third-party providers approved by the Department that utilize evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research, as required by the Virginia Literacy Act, Chapters 549 and 550, 2022 Acts of Assembly, as amended by Chapters 645 and 646, 2023 Acts of Assembly. Such services shall be integrated with the student's student reading plan developed pursuant to § 22.1-253.13:1 (H).

4. The Department shall report annually to the Chairs of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health on program participation, student outcomes, and expenditures by December 1 of each year."



Explanation

(This amendment provides $12.5 million each year from the general fund to establish the First Grade Literacy Safety Net to provide high-dosage tutoring to first graders identified as high-risk based on the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System, known as VALLSS.)