85R7354 MM-D
By: Howard H.B. No. 3526
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; and
(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.