(a) For the school year commencing July 1, 2023, and each school year thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall implement a reading curriculum model or program for grades prekindergarten to grade three, inclusive, that has been reviewed and recommended pursuant to § 10-14ii.

(b) On or before July 1, 2023, and biennially thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall notify the Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success, established pursuant to § 10-14gg, of which reading curriculum model or program that the board is implementing pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

(c) If a local or regional board of education demonstrates to the Commissioner of Education that such board has insufficient resources or funding to implement any of the reading curriculum model or programs reviewed and recommended pursuant to § 10-14ii, the commissioner shall grant such board an extension of time, if the commissioner determines that such board demonstrates continued efforts to commence implementation of a reviewed and recommended reading curriculum model or program in accordance with this section.

(d) The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the director of the Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success, shall, upon request of a local or regional board of education, grant a waiver from the provisions of subsection (a) of this section to such board to implement a reading curriculum model or program other than a model or program reviewed and recommended pursuant to § 10-14ii, if the commissioner determines that such other reading curriculum or model is (1) evidenced-based and scientifically-based, and (2) focused on competency in the following areas of reading: Oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, rapid automatic name or letter name fluency and reading comprehension. A request for a waiver under this subsection shall include (A) data collected from the reading assessments described in § 10-14t that has been disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, eligibility for free or reduced priced lunches, students whose primary language is not English and students with disabilities, and (B) a strategy to address remaining reading achievement gaps, as defined in § 10-14u.