House Bill 834

AN ACT TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT EXPEND ALL FUNDS ALLOCATED FROM THE ANNUAL TEXTBOOK APPROPRIATION AND OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF NEW TEXTBOOKS BEFORE ANY OTHER EXPENDITURE MAY BE MADE; TO PROVIDE THAT ADDITIONAL FUNDS MAY BE DERIVED FROM THE STATE TEXTBOOK FUND, THE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT TEXTBOOK CARRYOVER FUND AND ANY ADDITIONAL CATEGORICAL FUNDS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI ADEQUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM FUNDS, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE THE BASE-STUDENT COST ALLOCATION; TO PROVIDE THAT THE TEXTBOOKS PURCHASED SHALL ONLY BE THE MOST RECENT EDITION OF PHYSICAL, PRINTED, HARD COPY TEXTBOOKS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR USE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE IMMEDIATE SUCCEEDING ACADEMIC YEAR, AND SHALL NOT BE TEXTBOOKS ON A COMPUTER, TABLET, MODULE OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC FORMAT; TO PLACE A PERMANENT RESTRICTION ON SALARY INCREASES TO LOCAL SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIVE AND CENTRAL OFFICE PERSONNEL IF NEW TEXTBOOKS ARE NOT PURCHASED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO EVERY STUDENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-43-31, 37-43-33 AND 37-43-41, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) Each public school district shall expend all funds disbursed by the State Department of Education from the annual textbook appropriation by the Legislature, the State Textbook Fund and the Local School District Textbook Carryover Fund established in Section 37-43-41, and any additional categorical funds from the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds, which shall include the base-student cost allocation, to purchase new textbooks for every student enrolled in the public school districts of the state. The funds received by each public school district under this section shall be allocated based on the total student enrollment in the district, and shall be the first expenditure made by the district to ensure that every student has textbooks for every class offered in the district's curriculum. The textbooks purchased shall only be the most recent edition of physical, printed, hard copy textbooks available for purchase by the school district for use at the beginning of the immediate succeeding academic year, and shall not be textbooks on a computer, tablet, module or any other electronic format.

(2) Failure of public school districts to purchase new textbooks in compliance with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section shall result in a permanent restriction on the ability of local superintendents, principals, district administrative and central office personnel to receive any increase in their annual salary or other compensation until such time that it is determined by the school board that all students in the district are provided textbooks for the every class of enrollment. The permanent restriction on salary increases for lack of compliance shall not be applicable to salaries of teachers and auxiliary staff.

SECTION 2. Section 37-43-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-43-31. (1) The State Board of Education shall adopt and furnish textbooks only for use in those courses set up in the state course of study as recommended by the State Accreditation Commission and adopted by such board, or courses established by acts of the Legislature. In all subjects the board, in its discretion, * * *~~may~~ shall only adopt textbooks and/or series from those recommended by the textbook rating committees. The board * * *~~may~~ shall adopt a plan which permits the local school districts to choose the book or books to be requisitioned from those adopted, provided:

(a) That, when a book is furnished by the state, it shall remain in use during the period of its adoption;

(b) That the average per pupil cost of textbooks so furnished any unit shall not exceed that allowed for all other units in the state;

(c) That nothing herein provided shall be construed as giving any school the authority to discard or replace usable copies of textbooks now being furnished by the state;

(d) That the State Department of Education is authorized to disburse the annual textbook appropriation directly to the public school districts in accordance with * * *~~Section 37‑43‑31(1)(b)~~ paragraph (b) of this subsection, and purchase by the school boards of public school districts in accordance with Section 1 of this act and Section 37-43-33. The textbooks procured through this chapter, as well as textbooks which are on hand on June 30, * * *~~1994~~ 2018, which were previously purchased through the provisions of this statute, shall become the property of the public school district which purchased them, unless the State Department of Education authorizes the transfer of unneeded textbooks to another location in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education;

(e) That textbooks which are on loan to other than public schools as referenced in Section 37-43-1, shall remain the property of the State of Mississippi. All requisitions for textbooks from these schools shall be submitted to the State Department of Education to be processed and subsequently shipped to the requesting school. No funds shall be disbursed directly from the State Department of Education to the schools in this category for the purpose of procuring textbooks; and

(f) That funds made available through this chapter may be used to purchase any state-adopted or nonadopted textbook from any state depository, directly from the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of Sections 37-43-21(5) and 37-43-31(3). For purchases made directly from the publisher, the public school district, or the State Department of Education when purchasing for other than public schools, shall not pay a higher price for a textbook than that listed on the current state-adopted list.

(2) Whenever any book under contract is displaced by a new adoption, the board may continue to require the schools to use the recently purchased books from any previous adoption; however, such period of use shall not exceed four (4) years.

(3) If five (5) or more school boards petition the State Board of Education to add a book, or a series of books, to the approved list of state adoptions in a given subject area, then the State Superintendent of Public Education shall have sixty (60) days to show cause to the State Board of Education why the books in question should or should not be purchased with state funds. If the petition is not acted upon within the sixty-day period, the petition shall be deemed to be approved. Once a textbook has been approved through the petition process, any public school district or eligible other school may procure the said textbook utilizing funds appropriated through this chapter.

(4) If new and innovative textbooks that would improve a particular course of study become available between adoption cycles, a school board may petition the State Board of Education for permission to purchase these books out of sequence to be paid for with state textbook funds.

(5) The State Board of Education shall not allow previously rejected textbooks to be used if such textbooks were rejected for any of the following reasons:

(a) Obscene, lewd, sexist or vulgar material;

(b) Advocating prejudicial behavior or actions; or

(6) All books or series of books adopted under the petition procedures of this chapter shall be purchased under the provisions for bidding, pricing and distribution as prescribed in Section 37-43-23.

(7) Petition procedure books or series of books adopted under this section shall be considered only until the date of the next regular adoption series in the applicable subject area. Petition procedure books shall be submitted for formal adoption at the next applicable regular textbook adoption as prescribed under the provisions of Chapter 43, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972; otherwise, such books adopted under the petition procedures which do not receive formal adoption approval as recommended by the textbook rating committee shall be dropped from the state textbook petition adoption list. Provided, however, this provision shall in no way prohibit a school district from using other funds, federal or local, for the purchase of such books.

SECTION 3. Section 37-43-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-43-33. Any parent, person or school board in any community of the state may purchase books from the depository who is given authority to sell books under the provisions of this chapter. However, the purchase of books from the depository by school boards shall be purchased in accordance with the requirements of Section 1 of this act. The price of the books so ordered or brought shall be the same as the contract price, plus whatever postage or delivery charges might accrue.

SECTION 4. Section 37-43-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-43-41. The State Textbook Fund of Mississippi shall consist of the amounts appropriated by the Legislature for the same, all monies accruing from the sale of disused books from other than public schools, all monies derived from the purchase of books by both public and private schools trustees, and by private individuals, all monies collected in damage suits under the terms of this chapter, and all other monies collected in any way whatsoever under the terms of this chapter.

There is hereby created a special fund in the State Treasury to be designated as the "Local School District Textbook Carryover Fund." * * *~~Said~~ The fund shall be credited with any funds which were appropriated by the Legislature to the State Textbook Fund for any fiscal year in which * * *~~said~~ those funds were allocated to local school districts but unexpended by * * *~~said~~ the districts. * * *~~Said~~ The unexpended funds shall be deposited by the board into the Local School District Textbook Carryover Fund to the credit of the local school districts which were originally allocated * * *~~such~~ those funds. All carryover funds which exist on June 30, 1994, which belong to public school districts shall be disbursed to the respective school districts to be used only for the purchase of textbooks as required under Section 1 of this act. Carryover funds for other than public schools shall be handled in the same manner as previously described in this section.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.