The Duval County School Board discussed a proposed agreement with ReadUSA that would fund school book fairs and summer literacy supports with $300,000 in district funds.

Board members raised questions about which schools would receive materials, whether the money covers both book fairs and the summer “slide” program and how ReadUSA advertises events to families. A ReadUSA representative explained the contract covers book fairs, parent guides and summer materials and that ReadUSA provides volunteers and free book fairs for Title I schools.

Board members pressed staff and ReadUSA for data on participation and outreach. One board member asked how many parents received and completed a follow-up survey; staff said they would confirm the denominator and return the information. Another board member asked for last year’s charts and historical data to be provided with this item when it returns to the board.

Several board members raised equity concerns. One said schools with elevated English-language-learner populations in her district appeared to be excluded from the current Title I-focused distribution and asked staff to explore whether those schools could be served. Another asked for stated goals and participation targets for the coming year and for clearer documentation about which schools are eligible under the current funding stream.

Board members also asked about prior funding levels and the program’s scale. Staff and the ReadUSA representative said the contract amount under discussion is $300,000 and that ReadUSA receives additional grant funding for related tutoring work; detailed breakdowns of prior-year distributions, number of schools served and sums per school were not provided during the discussion but staff agreed to return with those charts.

The board recorded the item on the agenda as “approval of agreement with ReadUSA.” The transcript does not include a recorded vote or final tally on the ReadUSA agreement.

Board members asked staff to return with: historical participation charts, the number of parents who received and who completed the ReadUSA survey (disaggregated by parents/teachers/students/community where available), outreach practices for identifying and notifying families (especially ELL families), and explicit goals and participation targets for the next funding cycle.

Ending: Staff committed to provide the requested data and outreach details when the item returns. The meeting moved on to the next agenda item after the ReadUSA discussion.