By: Howard (Senate Sponsor - Taylor of Galveston) H.B. No. 3526

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2017; May 12, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 22, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 22, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to renaming the instructional materials allotment as the technology and instructional materials allotment and making associated technical changes.

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

SECTION 1. Section 31.001, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.001. FREE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS. Instructional materials selected for use in the public schools shall be furnished without cost to the students attending those schools. Except as provided by Section 31.104(d), a school district may not charge a student for instructional material or technological equipment purchased by the district with the district's technology and instructional materials allotment.

SECTION 2. Section 31.005, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.005. FUNDING FOR OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER SCHOOLS. An open-enrollment charter school is entitled to the technology and instructional materials allotment under this chapter and is subject to this chapter as if the school were a school district.

SECTION 3. Section 31.021, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.021. STATE TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FUND. (a) The state technology and instructional materials fund consists of:

(1) an amount set aside by the State Board of Education from the available school fund, in accordance with Section 43.001(d); and

(2) all amounts lawfully paid into the fund from any other source.

(c) Money in the state technology and instructional materials fund shall be used to:

(1) fund the technology and instructional materials allotment, as provided by Section 31.0211;

(2) purchase special instructional materials for the education of blind and visually impaired students in public schools;

(3) pay the expenses associated with the instructional materials adoption and review process under this chapter;

(4) pay the expenses associated with the purchase or licensing of open-source instructional material;

(5) pay the expenses associated with the purchase of instructional material, including intrastate freight and shipping and the insurance expenses associated with intrastate freight and shipping;

(6) fund the technology lending grant program established under Section 32.201; and

(7) provide funding to the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Texas School for the Deaf, and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

(d) Money transferred to the state technology and instructional materials fund remains in the fund until spent and does not lapse to the state at the end of the fiscal year.

SECTION 4. The heading to Section 31.0211, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.0211. TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ALLOTMENT.

SECTION 5. Sections 31.0211(a) and (b), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A school district is entitled to an allotment each biennium from the state technology and instructional materials fund for each student enrolled in the district on a date during the last year of the preceding biennium specified by the commissioner. The commissioner shall determine the amount of the allotment per student each biennium on the basis of the amount of money available in the state technology and instructional materials fund to fund the allotment. An allotment under this section shall be transferred from the state technology and instructional materials fund to the credit of the district's technology and instructional materials account as provided by Section 31.0212.

(b) A juvenile justice alternative education program under Section 37.011 is entitled to an allotment from the state technology and instructional materials fund in an amount determined by the commissioner. The program shall use the allotment to purchase items listed in Subsection (c) for students enrolled in the program. The commissioner's determination under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.

SECTION 6. The heading to Section 31.0212, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.0212. TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ACCOUNT.

SECTION 7. Sections 31.0212(a), (b), (d), and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioner shall maintain a technology and [an] instructional materials account for each school district. In the first year of each biennium, the commissioner shall deposit in the account for each district the amount of the district's technology and instructional materials allotment under Section 31.0211.

(b) The commissioner shall pay the cost of instructional materials requisitioned by a school district under Section 31.103 using funds from the district's technology and instructional materials account.

(d) Money deposited in a school district's technology and instructional materials account during each state fiscal biennium remains in the account and available for use by the district for the entire biennium. At the end of each biennium, a district with unused money in the district's account may carry forward any remaining balance to the next biennium.

(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section. The rules must include a requirement that a school district provide the title and publication information for any instructional materials requisitioned or purchased by the district with the district's technology and instructional materials allotment.

SECTION 8. Section 31.0213, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.0213. CERTIFICATION OF USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ALLOTMENT. Each school district shall annually certify to the commissioner that the district's technology and instructional materials allotment has been used only for expenses allowed by Section 31.0211.

SECTION 9. Section 31.0214(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Each year the commissioner shall adjust the technology and instructional materials allotment of school districts experiencing high enrollment growth. The commissioner shall establish a procedure for determining high enrollment growth districts eligible to receive an adjustment under this section and the amount of the technology and instructional materials allotment those districts will receive.

SECTION 10. The heading to Section 31.0215, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 31.0215. TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS [MATERIAL] ALLOTMENT PURCHASES.

SECTION 11. Sections 31.0215(b) and (c), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The commissioner may allow a school district or open-enrollment charter school to place an order for instructional materials before the beginning of a fiscal biennium and to receive instructional materials before payment. The commissioner shall limit the cost of an order placed under this section to 80 percent of the estimated amount to which a school district or open-enrollment charter school is estimated to be entitled as provided by Subsection (a) and shall first credit any balance in a district or charter school technology and instructional materials account to pay for an order placed under this section.

(c) The commissioner shall make payments for orders placed under this section as funds become available to the technology and instructional materials fund and shall prioritize payment of orders placed under this section over reimbursement of purchases made directly by a school district or open-enrollment charter school.

SECTION 12. Section 31.0231(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) A school district may select material on the list adopted under Subsection (a) to be funded by the district's technology and instructional materials allotment under Section 31.0211.

SECTION 13. Section 31.029(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A school district shall purchase with the district's technology and instructional materials allotment or otherwise acquire instructional materials for use in bilingual education classes.

SECTION 14. Section 31.031(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A school district may purchase with the district's technology and instructional materials allotment or otherwise acquire instructional materials for use in college preparatory courses under Section 28.014.

SECTION 15. Section 31.071(e), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(e) The costs of administering this subchapter and purchasing state-developed open-source instructional materials shall be paid from the state technology and instructional materials fund, as determined by the commissioner.

SECTION 16. Section 31.101(f), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(f) The commissioner shall maintain an online requisition system for school districts to requisition instructional materials to be purchased with the district's technology and instructional materials allotment.

SECTION 17. Section 31.151(d), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) A penalty collected under this section shall be deposited to the credit of the state technology and instructional materials fund.

SECTION 18. Section 41.124(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) A school district that receives tuition for a student from a school district with a wealth per student that exceeds the equalized wealth level may not claim attendance for that student for purposes of Chapters 42 and 46 and the technology and instructional materials allotment under Section 31.0211.

SECTION 19. Section 43.001(d), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) Each biennium the State Board of Education shall set aside an amount equal to 50 percent of the distribution for that biennium from the permanent school fund to the available school fund as provided by Section 5(a), Article VII, Texas Constitution, to be placed, subject to the General Appropriations Act, in the state technology and instructional materials fund established under Section 31.021.

SECTION 20. Section 403.093(d), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) The comptroller shall transfer from the general revenue fund to the foundation school fund an amount of money necessary to fund the foundation school program as provided by Chapter 42, Education Code. The comptroller shall make the transfers in installments as necessary to comply with Section 42.259, Education Code, and permit the Texas Education Agency, to the extent authorized by the General Appropriations Act, to make temporary transfers from the foundation school fund for payment of the technology and instructional materials allotment under Section 31.0211, Education Code. Unless an earlier date is necessary for purposes of temporary transfers for payment of the technology and instructional materials allotment, an installment must be made not earlier than two days before the date an installment to school districts is required by Section 42.259, Education Code, and must not exceed the amount necessary for that payment and any temporary transfers for payment of the technology and instructional materials allotment.

SECTION 21. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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