HB 2839 Summary

• Amends the Reading Sufficiency Act to modify mandatory third-grade retention requirements by allowing promotion when the primary teacher, school principal, and a certified reading specialist (if employed) agree the student should be promoted

• Students promoted under this new agreement may still advance to fourth grade but must receive intensive reading instruction as specified in the bill

• Replaces obsolete language referencing "Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS)" with "state curriculum standards" throughout the statute

• Removes the term "mandatory" from retention requirements, making retention discretionary rather than automatic for students scoring at unsatisfactory levels on third-grade reading tests

• Declares an emergency, making the act effective immediately upon passage and approval