Creates an 11-member OhioReads Council, whose duties include awarding OhioReads grants, evaluating the OhioReads initiative, and developing a strategic plan to recruit and train volunteers, and abolishes the Council on July 1, 2004. Establishes the OhioReads Classroom Reading Grant Program and the OhioReads Community Reading Grants Program. Establishes a mechanism for criminal records checks for OhioReads volunteers. The four nonvoting members are two members of the House appointed by the Speaker, one from each political party, and two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate President, one from each political party. The council must meet at least four times a year to conduct business.
Members receive no compensation but are reimbursed for expenses.
The reading specialist must suffer no loss of salary or benefits because of absence from regular employment to attend the Council's meeting. The Council will establish the guidelines for awarding OhioReads Classroom and Community grants, including eligibility criteria, grant amounts, the purposes for which the grants may be used, and administrative, programmatic, and reporting requirements. The Council will be abolished on July 1, 2004. By that date, the Director of Budget and Management must submit a written recommendation of a governmental entity to assume the Council's duties, unless the General Assembly continues the Council's existence. The OhioReads Office, which will administer both grant programs as fiscal agent, will be housed within the Department of Education.