MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Owen
AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 37-43-60, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO IMPLEMENT PROCEDURES FOR THE APPROVAL, ADOPTION AND PROCUREMENT OF TEXTBOOKS AND OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, INCLUDING MATERIALS TO BE USED BY EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING COLLABORATIVE; TO DESIGNATE THE OFFICE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS WITHIN THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ADMINISTER THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-43-1, 37-43-19, 37-43-21, 37-43-23, 37-43-25, 37-43-31, 37-43-41, 37-43-43, 37-43-45, 37-43-51 AND 37-43-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ARE PROVISIONS OF THE STATE TEXTBOOK PROCEDURES LAW EMPLOYED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF "TEXTBOOK" TO INCLUDE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, TO CLARIFY THE COMPONENT OF WHAT CAN BE ADOPTED AS PARTS OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP A WEB-BASED TEXTBOOK INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; TO REVISE THE COMPOSITION AND APPOINTING AUTHORITY FOR MEMBERS OF TEXTBOOK RATING COMMITTEES; TO INCLUDE THE CONTRACT FOR PRINTED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL AND TEXTBOOKS WITH THE REGIONAL DEPOSITORY IN ORDER TO ALLOW DISTRICT TO PRINT ADOPTED TEXTBOOKS AND OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS WITHOUT THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL QUOTES; TO CLARIFY WHAT MATERIALS ARE REQUIRED BY PUBLISHERS TO BE HOUSE AT THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS SPECIAL LIBRARY; TO CLARIFY THE PROCESS OF TRANSFERRING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND HOW NEW EDITION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL MAY BE ADDED TO THE STATE-APPROVED LISTS; TO REVISE THE NAME OF THE STATE TEXTBOOK FUND TO REFLECT THAT THE FUNDS THEREIN SHALL BE USED FOR THE BENEFIT OF ACCREDITED NONPUBLIC SCHOOL TEXTBOOK ALLOCATION ACCOUNTS; TO SPECIFY HOW LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES ARE TO MANAGE INVENTORY USING THE TEXTBOOK INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; TO REVISE LANGUAGE RELATED TO TEXTBOOKS SUBMITTED AS SAMPLES TO TEXTBOOK RATING COMMITTEES; TO REPEAL SECTION 37-43-2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH DISSOLVED THE STATE TEXTBOOK PROCUREMENT COMMISSION AND TRANSFERRED THE FUNCTIONS PERTAINING THERETO TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION; TO REPEAL SECTION 37-43-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PRESCRIBED THE PROCESS FOR THE PAYMENT OF TEXTBOOKS PURCHASED BY THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 37-43-60, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-43-60. (1) In order to ensure access of teachers and students to high-quality instructional materials, the State Board of Education shall implement procedures for the approval, adoption and procurement of textbooks and open educational resource instructional materials, which are designed to meet all students' need and provide equity and access to grade-level complex text aligned with the Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards, to be integrated across content areas at all levels of instructions, including early learning instructional material to be provided through Early Childhood Learning Collaboratives approved by the state.
(2) The board's selection of open educational resource instructional materials to be used as curricula shall be identified through a process of review by internal and external sources of expertise before making its final approval. The internal process must consist of a review of the level of external reviews that focus on child outcomes. Selected materials shall be reviewed every five (5) years for evaluation of continued effectiveness or the need for updated revisions.
(3) In addition to reviewing and procuring textbooks and open educational resource instructional materials for public and accredited nonpublic K-12 schools, the department's selection of early learning instructional materials shall include, but not be limited to, teachers' guides, trade books and classroom materials.
(4) The provisions of this section and the entirety of this chapter shall be administered by the Office of Instructional Materials.
SECTION 2. Section 37-43-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-1. (1) This chapter is intended to furnish a plan for the adoption, purchase, distribution, care and use of free textbooks to be loaned to the pupils in all elementary and high schools, other than charter schools, of Mississippi.
(2) The * * * textbooks herein provided by the State
Board of Education, * * * shall be distributed
and loaned free of cost to the children of the free public school districts of the
state and of all other schools located in the state, which maintain educational
standards equivalent to the standards established by the State Department of Education
for the state schools as outlined in the Approval Requirements of the State Board
of Education for Nonpublic Schools.
(3) Teachers shall permit all pupils in all grades of any public school in any school district to carry to their homes for home study, the free textbooks loaned to them, and any other regular textbooks whether they be free textbooks or not.
(4) For the purposes of this chapter, the term "board" shall mean the State Board of Education.
(5) (a) "Textbook" shall be defined as any medium or manual of instruction which contains a systematic presentation of the principles of a subject and which constitutes a major instructional vehicle for that subject. For purposes of this chapter, the term "textbook":
(i) Includes printed textbooks, ancillary materials, a combination of materials, digital components or other means of conveying information to the student, or otherwise contributing to the learning process, including open educational resource instructional materials; but
(ii) Does not include those materials that employ the three-cueing system model of reading, visual memory for teaching word recognition or the three-cueing system model of reading based on meaning, structure, syntax and visual (MSV).
(b) "Open educational resource instructional materials" means teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license which allows for free uses, reuse, modification and sharing with others, including:
(i) Full courses;
(ii) Course materials;
(iii) Modules;
(iv) Textbooks;
(v) Streaming videos;
(vi) Assessments;
(vii) Software; and
(viii) Any other tools, materials or techniques used to support access to knowledge.
The terms includes state-developed open educational resource instructional materials.
(6) In addition to the authority
granted in this chapter, local school boards shall make available to the parents
or legal guardians of any children of school age who reside in the school district
administered by the school board, upon request, any textbooks on the state surplus
inventory list. The parent or legal guardian is responsible for the return of the * * * textbooks to the local school
district upon completion of the * * * textbooks use. Failure to return
the * * *
textbooks to the school district will result in the parents or legal guardians
being responsible for compensating the school district for the fair market value
of the * * *
textbooks.
SECTION 3. Section 37-43-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-19. The board shall have the power and is hereby authorized:
(a) To promulgate rules
and regulations for the purchase, care, use, disposal, distribution and accounting
for all * * *
textbooks to be furnished under the terms of this chapter, and to promulgate
such other rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper administration
of this chapter.
(b) To adopt, contract for, and make available for purchase, cash or credit, basal, supplementary or alternative textbooks through twelve (12) grades as provided in the school curriculum, or for any other course that it may add thereto.
(c) To determine the period of contract for rated and adopted textbooks which shall not be for less than four (4) years nor more than five (5) years, with the right of the board, in its discretion, to renew or extend such contract from year to year for a period not exceeding two (2) additional years and to determine the conditions of the approval or forfeiture of a contract and such other terms and conditions as may be necessary and not contrary to law.
(d) To have complete power and authority over additions and amendments to textbooks, advertising for bids and the contents thereof, including auxiliary materials and workbooks, advertising on the protective covers of textbooks, bids and proposals, prices of textbooks, specimen copies, cash deposits, selection and adoption, distribution, fumigation, emergencies, selling to others, return of deposits, forfeiture of deposits, regulations governing deposits, renovation and repair of books, requisition, transportation or shipment of books, and any other acts or regulations, not contrary to law, that may be deemed necessary for furnishing and loaning free textbooks to the school children, as provided in this chapter.
(e) To develop and maintain a web-based textbook inventory management system to assist public and accredited nonpublic schools in selecting and purchasing state-adopted instructional materials. The system must:
(i) Include information such as an online catalog with state-adopted print and digital instructional materials;
(ii) Require relevant specifications for each instructional material, professional learning opportunities, digital usage and assessment connection;
(iii) Require publishers to submit information for inclusion on the textbook inventory management system for uses by the textbook rating committees in creating the lists of state-adopted instructional materials; and
(iv) Require the board to establish procedures by which publishers may submit instructional materials for inclusion in the textbook inventory management system.
SECTION 4. Section 37-43-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-21. (1) For the purpose
of assisting the board during an adoption, there shall be rating committees in each
of the fields in which textbooks are considered for adoption. Each committee shall
be composed of seven (7) members selected from among Mississippi classroom teachers,
curriculum specialists and others having experience in the subject area under consideration.
The State Superintendent of Public Education * * * and
the Governor of the State of Mississippi thereupon shall * * * approve members of each
of said committees * * * deemed competent to participate in the
appraisal of * * *
textbooks offered for adoption, in each field, for use in the public and
accredited nonpublic schools of this state.
(2) It shall be the duty of
said rating committees to appraise the * * * textbooks offered for adoption in
each field in which textbooks are offered for adoption and recommend eight (8) * * * textbooks and/or series for each adoption
to be made by the board and giving the reasons * * * for or basis of such recommendations. * * * All appraisals, recommendations, and dissents,
if any, shall be in writing and filed with the board for its consideration upon
the adoption. * * *
The rating committees shall be subject to the provisions of Section 37-43-17.
The board shall have the power to reject any and all recommendations of the rating
committees and to call for further recommendations; in no case shall the board adopt
any * * * textbook
not recommended by the rating committees.
* * *
( * * *3) No state official, state employee, school
board member, school superintendent, principal, teacher or any other individual
shall sell or donate sample textbooks furnished them by the Regional School * * * Textbook Depository as part of the
textbook adoption or selection process. Said individuals and public officials shall
not receive payment by the regional depository, any publisher or any other company
for sample textbooks.
( * * *4) School districts may annually utilize
any portion of the textbook allotment for the repair of textbooks; provided, however,
that school districts are authorized and encouraged to utilize the Mississippi Department
of Corrections bookbinder for the repair of textbooks.
( * * *5) Prices for new textbook purchases shall
not be higher than the lowest price at which * * * textbooks are sold anywhere in the
United States, after all discounts are allowed.
SECTION 5. Section 37-43-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-23. The State Board of
Education is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to advertise for and receive
sealed bids for textbooks. Bidders shall quote their lowest net wholesale prices,
f.o.b. destination being the board-authorized regional depository. The board may,
in its discretion, establish a state depository or approve regional depositories
located in reasonable proximity to the state, or inaugurate any other plan for the
distribution of * * *
textbooks. Such prices shall not be higher than the lowest price at which * * * textbooks are sold anywhere in the
United States, after all discounts are allowed. It is the intent of the Legislature
that the price paid for a textbook shall not exceed the lowest price at which the
same book, both having the same copyright date, is sold anywhere in the United States
after all discounts are allowed. Every contract entered into under the provisions
of this section by the board and any publisher or publishing company shall contain
a provision that the publisher covenants and agrees that he is not furnishing under
contract executed after the first day of January of the year in which the contract
becomes effective, to any state, county or school district in the United States,
the textbooks embraced in the contract at a price below the price stipulated therein.
At any time that the board may find that any * * * textbook or books, in either regular
or special editions, are being furnished in any other state at a lower price under
contract than it is being furnished in Mississippi, the contract shall be forfeited
to the state. Any contractor who violates this provision shall return all money
paid out for such * * *
textbook or * * *
textbooks and also forfeit such * * * textbook or * * * textbooks to the state, and suit may
be brought on the bond of the contractor for all losses sustained.
Successful bidders or contractors
may maintain a depository at a place within the State of Mississippi or within a
regional area located in reasonable proximity to the state, to be named by the board,
where a stock of * * *
textbooks sufficient to meet all reasonable and immediate demands shall be
kept. Upon requisition of the board, an approved depository shall ship * * * textbooks, transportation charges paid,
to the various shipping points in Mississippi to be specified by the board. For
such service the depository shall make no charge to the board except the actual
cost of transportation from the depository to the shipping point designated. The
cost of distribution shall not exceed eight percent (8%) of the total appropriation
for any fiscal year.
All * * * textbooks furnished the State of Mississippi
by contractors under this chapter shall continue to measure up to the same standards
as are required in the contract, said standards to include printing, binding, cover
boards, mechanical makeup, and any other relevant points as set out in the plans
and specifications as fixed by the board. Any contractor of any * * * textbook or books, who fails to keep
said * * *
textbooks up to said standards, shall forfeit, not only his contract to the
state, but shall return all money paid out for such * * * textbook or * * * textbooks and also forfeit said * * * textbooks to the state.
The State Department of Education may execute a contract for the printing or open educational resource instructional materials placed on the list. The contract must allow a school district to requisition printed copies of open educational resource instructional materials from the regional textbook depository.
SECTION 6. Section 37-43-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-25. * * * At least one (1) set of all
textbooks, including ancillary, manuals, consumables and professional learning
materials, which have been made the basis of contracts under the provisions
of this chapter, clearly marked and identified as such, shall be deposited by the
publisher of said * * *
textbooks with the State Superintendent of Public Education. Said specimen
copies shall be preserved and kept open for inspection by the public through
the Instructional Materials Special Library located in the Office of Instructional
Materials. In addition to the finished printed materials and textbooks not missing
essential content, publishers shall make all textbooks proposed for adoption available
for online inspection by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning,
local educational agencies and the public through the web-based textbook inventory
management system.
A copy of all contracts and bonds executed under the provisions of this chapter shall be provided to the following, one (1) copy for the contractor, one (1) copy to be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, and one (1) copy to be filed in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Education.
An original of each bid, whether accepted or rejected, shall be filed and preserved in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Education for at least five (5) years.
SECTION 7. 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 adopt textbooks and/or series from
those recommended by the textbook rating committees. The board may adopt a plan
which permits the local school districts to choose the * * * textbook or * * * textbooks to be requisitioned from
those adopted, provided:
(a) That, when a * * * textbook 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 paragraph (b) of this subsection.
The textbooks procured through this chapter, * * * shall
become the property of the public school district which purchased them, unless the * * * public school district
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 textbook from any board-approved 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 * * * textbook under contract is displaced
by a new adoption, the board may continue to require the schools to use the recently
purchased * * *
textbooks 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 * * * textbook, or a series of * * * textbooks, 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 * * *
textbooks 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 a new * * * edition of state-adopted textbook becomes available
between adoption cycles, a * * * publisher may petition the State
Board of Education * * * to review these * * * textbooks out of sequence to be * * * adopted.
(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
(c) Encouraging acts determined to be derogatory to any race, sex or religion.
(6) (a) Publishers submitting textbooks for possible state adoption shall execute an agreement to correct all factual and editing errors found in the instructional material, at the publisher's expense.
(b) The publisher shall submit a corrective action plan to the department for review and approval by the State Board of Education within thirty (30) days of receiving notification from the department of the existence of errors in the textbook. Factual errors apply to information that is inaccurate at the time of the board's approval of the textbook.
( * * *7) All * * * textbooks or series of * * * textbooks 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.
( * * *8) Petition procedure * * * textbooks or series of * * * textbooks adopted under this section
shall be considered only until the date of the next regular adoption series in the
applicable subject area. Petition procedure * * * textbooks 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 * * * textbooks 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 8. Section 37-43-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-41. * * *
The accredited nonpublic school textbook allocation accounts shall consists of
amounts appropriated by the Legislature for the same, all monies derived from the
purchase of textbooks by accredited nonpublic schools, 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 " * * * Accredited Nonpublic Schools
Textbook Carryover Fund." * * * Any unexpended funds shall be deposited by the board into
the * * *
Accredited Nonpublic Schools Textbook Carryover Fund to the credit of the * * * accredited nonpublic schools
which were originally allocated such funds. * * *
SECTION 9. Section 37-43-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-43. The State Superintendent
of Public Education shall deposit all funds sent to him from accredited nonpublic
schools for lost * * *
textbooks or damaged * * * textbooks as well as all other funds
accruing under this chapter in the State Treasury to the credit of the * * * accredited nonpublic school
textbook allocation accounts.
SECTION 10. Section 37-43-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-45. Any loss occasioned by the neglect, carelessness or failure of duty by the county superintendent or any principal or teacher in charge of any school, shall entitle the state to bring suit for the recovery of the amount of the loss or losses occasioned thereby.
Any writ or suit of any nature
instituted under the provisions of this chapter shall be brought in the name of
the State of Mississippi by the Attorney General. Any money or moneys recovered
by such suit shall be placed to the credit of the * * * accredited nonpublic school
textbook allocation accounts.
SECTION 11. Section 37-43-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-51. (1) The management of all public, private, parochial or denominational schools wherein the board is furnishing to the students thereof free school textbooks and said free school textbooks are used by the students in said school, shall file annually with the State Board of Education any and all reports as may be required by the board set forth by the Textbook Administration Handbook.
* * *
(2) All public and accredited nonpublic schools shall maintain instructional material inventory through the web-based textbook inventory management system.
SECTION 12. Section 37-43-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-43-59. (1) Not more than one (1) pupil copy, one (1) teacher's edition, and one (1) copy of any limited auxiliary materials shall be furnished as samples or specimen copies to any single person involved in the state rating, adoption process of free textbooks. Any and all sample or specimen textbooks or other materials furnished to any person serving in an official capacity or as an officer or employee in a school receiving free textbooks shall be furnished only by the State Board of Education after receipt from the publishers. No samples shall be furnished by publishers directly to any such person. The board shall keep detailed records of all samples furnished to all persons and establish such procedures for return of all samples. The intent of this provision is that no person serving in an official capacity shall receive personal benefit or profit from sale of sample or specimen textbooks.
(2) Not more than one (1) pupil
copy, one (1) teacher's edition, and one (1) copy of any limited auxiliary materials
shall be furnished for review and inspection to any single person involved in the
local educational agency (LEA) selection committee process of free textbooks.
Any and all textbooks or other materials furnished to any such person serving in
a selection committee capacity for inspection and review shall be furnished subject
to the rules and regulations adopted by the board which such rules and regulations
shall not prohibit direct delivery by the publishers to such persons. The board
shall keep detailed records of all textbooks and auxiliary materials furnished to
all such persons and establish such procedures for the return thereof. Any and
all textbooks furnished to persons serving on selection committees shall be turned
in to the * * * publisher without any cost to the State of Mississippi * * *
or the LEA. Any and all textbooks so furnished to persons serving on selection
committees which have not been returned within one (1) year of the receipt of same
the value thereof shall be charged against the allocation of state funds to said
school district to the same extent as if said * * * textbooks had been purchased by said
school district. The intent of this provision is that no person serving as a selection
committee member shall receive personal benefit or proceeds from the sale of said
textbooks.
* * *
( * * *3) Any person converting to personal use
or selling any sample or specimen textbook or other materials contrary to provisions
of this section shall be guilty of the crime of embezzlement as provided by Section
97-11-25, and in addition, shall upon conviction pay a fine of Fifty
Dollars ($50.00) per * * *
item sold or converted to personal use and shall be removed from any public
office or public employment position held.
SECTION 13. Section 37-43-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, which dissolved the State Textbook Procurement Commission and transferred the functions pertaining thereto to the State Board of Education, is repealed.
SECTION 14. Section 37-43-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, which prescribed the process for the payment of textbooks purchased by the State Superintendent of Education and public school districts, is repealed.
SECTION 15. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.