SB200 Summary

• Postpones mandatory third grade retention requirement to the 2023-2024 school year, changing the effective date from the 2021-2022 school year.

• Requires local education agencies to offer comprehensive, science-based reading programs for K-3 students and provide reading intervention programs for students identified with reading deficiencies or dyslexia characteristics.

• Establishes that third grade students must demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to fourth grade through one of three options: passing a state reading assessment, scoring on an alternative standardized assessment, or demonstrating mastery through a student reading portfolio.

• Allows exemptions from mandatory retention only for good cause, including students with disabilities whose IEPs exclude statewide assessment participation, English language learners with less than two years of English instruction, or students with intensive intervention for two or more years who were previously retained.

• Requires local education agencies to provide summer reading camps with minimum 70 hours of instruction and mandates annual reporting to the State Superintendent on student reading proficiency, intervention participation, and teacher professional development.