Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 623 amends the Education Code to establish a parental right to request that a school district or open-enrollment charter school allow a student to take home any textbook used by the student. The bill requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules to ensure that used textbooks sold to districts and charter schools are not sample copies containing factual errors and to allow for administrative penalties against used textbook sellers violating this provision.

            The bill requires the commissioner of education to implement a program to study the use of textbook credits that will allow participating districts and charter schools to receive credit for textbooks purchased at a cost below the limit established for expenditures from the state textbook fund. The credit would equal the difference between the purchase price and the cost limit, with 50 percent of the savings credited to the fund and the remainder credited to the district or school and applicable toward the requisition of additional textbooks or electronic textbooks.

            The bill entitles a district or charter school to reimbursement from the textbook fund if the district or school does not have enough copies of a textbook for use during the following school year and additional copies will not be available from the book depository. Alternatively, the district or school is entitled to return currently used books in exchange for sufficient copies, if available, of other listed textbooks for use during the following year.

            The bill deletes certain inventory requirements for school districts and charter schools; requires textbook publishers or manufacturers to provide districts or charter schools with an accurate shipping date for back-ordered textbooks and to guarantee delivery of textbooks at least 10 business days before the start of school for textbooks ordered by a specific date; and creates a Class B misdemeanor offense for a school trustee, administrator, or teacher who accepts certain gifts, favors, or services.

            House Bill 623 takes effect June 14, 2001, except for the creation of an offense for accepting prohibited gifts, favors, and services, which takes effect September 1, 2001.