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Council weighs READ pilot using $250,000 budget; members push for micro‑grants or RFP, advisory‑committee input
Summary
City staff briefed council on a $250,000 READ (REAP/READ) pilot to improve K–12 literacy, math and behavior outcomes; councilmembers favored competitive micro‑grants and convening the Education Advisory Committee to shape scope and monitoring metrics.
Riviera Beach — The City Council heard a staff presentation on the city’s READ program (REAP), a one‑year pilot backed by a $250,000 budget allocation to support student literacy, math proficiency and positive behavior through assessment, targeted interventions and parent engagement.
Assistant City Manager Valerie Grimsley and other staff described program elements including grade‑banded interventions (K–3, 4–5, 6–8, 9–12), pre‑ and post‑assessments, daily or weekly homework and tutoring sessions, technology‑based instruction using district‑approved software, and parent education modules. The objective is to collect performance metrics during a pilot year and return to council with a program evaluation.
Several councilmembers said the city lacks internal capacity to run a full K–12 tutoring operation and urged either issuing an RFP or using a micro‑grant model to engage existing local providers. Councilmember Miller Anderson recommended a competitive process and involvement from the education advisory committee; Councilmember Lanier said the advisory committee (which includes educators and principals) should convene to review the presentation and help build a scope. Councilmember Lawson said he favored micro‑grants to local organizations so programming can start quickly this school year and added that staff should establish KPIs for performance-based funding.
Staff direction: The manager’s office said it will share the presentation with the Education Advisory Committee, convene a special meeting if needed, and develop scope and solicitation language for an expedited competitive process (micro‑grants and a short procurement) so programming can begin in summer and be scaled for the next school year. Staff also said it is coordinating summer camp procurement to integrate more academic instruction with the READ objectives.
Why it matters: Councilmembers emphasized speed, measurable outcomes and using local providers with a track record of student impact. The program’s goal is to reduce learning slide and prepare students for state standardized tests; the pilot’s $250,000 budget was set during recent budget deliberations.
