NY A10691

Allocates up to $500,000 in Coronavirus relief funds for fiscal year 2023 to grants for local education agencies offering home reading programs, with funds distributed with focus on economically disadvantaged households.

Eligible programs must be provided by nonprofit organizations and deliver evidence-based self-selected reading materials mailed weekly to kindergarten through fifth grade students' homes.

Requires programs to include weekly parental engagement through phone calls, texts, or app notifications in multiple languages and provide 6-9 student-selected books per student to keep.

Programs must incorporate literacy principles to build reading fluency and comprehension, include a customizable data portal for student progress reports, and collect and disaggregate detailed metrics on parental engagement and student performance.

Requires local education agencies to match state funds equally, with combined program cost not exceeding $50 per student per semester, and nonprofits must provide summary data to legislature and state education department.