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Does your kid need an extra hour of school? Florida lawmakers are saying yes if the school is turning in low level reading results.

The final bell could be ringing a little bit later for some schools and students next year.  Florida lawmakers are calling for an extra hour of class for under performing elementary schools.

“There’s 75 million dollars earmarked in the budget that can be used for after school reading programs,” said Florida School Board Association Executive Director Wayne Blanton.

The program started in 2012 when the legislature added an hour of reading instruction to the 100 lowest performing elementary schools in the state. The list is based on FCAT reading scores. The budget calls for expanding the number to 300 schools this year.

“Maybe we will be expanding all elementary schools at some point into additional time. We have always advocated longer school days,” said Blanton.

Critics say helping kids is great, except the program is too broad. Former executive director of “Just Read, Florida” Stuart Greenberg says the schools don’t have a set goal.

“There’s not a reading threshold, so there’s not a performance issue, it’s a ranking. So as long as you continue to rank schools, someone will always be in the lowest 100, 200, or 300,” said Greenberg.

The extra hour doesn’t come cheap.  It could cost up to $300,000 bucks per school. The list won’t be out until July, and that gives school districts about 15 days to prepare.

Students who score highest in an under performing school could opt out of the extra hour.  A majority of the schools who have already participated in the program reported back positive academic results.