CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.House Bill 0981
Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 981
By Representative Livingston
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to instructional materials;
3 amending s. 233.07, F.S.; deleting obsolete
4 language relating to state instructional
5 materials committee appointments; conforming
6 provisions relating to committee meetings;
7 amending s. 233.09, F.S.; revising provisions
8 relating to evaluation of instructional
9 materials by state instructional materials
10 committees; deleting obsolete provisions;
11 amending s. 233.11, F.S.; conforming language
12 relating to committee procedures; amending s.
13 233.16, F.S.; authorizing a publisher or
14 manufacturer to provide a cash deposit in lieu
15 of a bond; revising provisions relating to
16 preservation of contracts; amending s. 233.18,
17 F.S.; revising requirements for specimen copies
18 of instructional materials; amending s. 233.25,
19 F.S.; revising requirements for samples of
20 nonprint instructional materials; revising
21 requirements of publishers or manufacturers
22 relating to description of instructional
23 materials; conforming provisions; amending ss.
24 233.46 and 233.47, F.S.; providing additional
25 penalties for lost or damaged books; deleting
26 obsolete provisions; providing an effective
27 date.
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29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (2) of
2 section 233.07, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
3 233.07 State instructional materials committees.--
4 (2)(a) All appointments shall be pursuant to the
5 conditions prescribed in this section. No member shall serve
6 more than two consecutive terms on any committee. After
7 October 1, 1991, All appointments shall be for 18-month terms.
8 All vacancies shall be filled in the manner of the original
9 appointment for only the time remaining in the unexpired term.
10 A committee member whose term has not expired as of July 1,
11 1991, shall continue to serve for the remaining period of his
12 or her appointment. At no time may a school district have
13 more than one representative on a committee, it being the
14 intent of the Legislature to involve representatives from the
15 maximum number of school districts in the process of
16 instructional materials selection. The Commissioner of
17 Education and a member of the Department of Education whom he
18 or she shall designate shall be additional and ex officio
19 members of each committee.
20 (d) Each committee shall meet at the call of its
21 chair, at the request of a majority of its membership, at the
22 request of the division, or at such times as may be prescribed
23 by its rules. Any member who fails to attend two consecutive
24 meetings without cause may be removed by the Commissioner of
25 Education.
26 Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 233.09, Florida
27 Statutes, is amended to read:
28 233.09 Duties of each state instructional materials
29 committee.--The duties of each state instructional materials
30 committee shall be:
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1 (4) EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS.--To
2 evaluate carefully all instructional materials submitted, to
3 ascertain which instructional materials, if any, submitted for
4 consideration best implement the selection criteria developed
5 by the Commissioner of Education and those curricular
6 objectives included within applicable curriculum frameworks
7 approved by the State Board of Education and the state and
8 district performance standards provided for in s. ss. 229.565
9 and 232.2454. The committees shall file with the Commissioner
10 of Education a written statement of the procedures used in the
11 evaluation of instructional materials, and certified copies of
12 such statements shall be made available to the public upon
13 request. The state instructional materials committees shall
14 be prohibited from conducting their assigned duties until such
15 written statements are on file with the Commissioner of
16 Education.
17 (a) When recommending instructional materials for use
18 in the schools, each committee shall include only
19 instructional materials that accurately portray the ethnic,
20 socioeconomic, cultural, and racial diversity of our society,
21 including men and women in professional, vocational, and
22 executive roles, and the role and contributions of the
23 entrepreneur and labor in the total development of this state
24 and the United States.
25 (b) When recommending instructional materials for use
26 in the schools, each committee shall include only materials
27 which accurately portray, whenever appropriate, humankind's
28 place in ecological systems, including the necessity for the
29 protection of our environment and conservation of our natural
30 resources and the effects on the human system of the use of
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1 tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, and other dangerous
2 substances.
3 (c) When recommending instructional materials for use
4 in the schools, each committee shall require such materials as
5 it deems necessary and proper to encourage thrift, fire
6 prevention, and humane treatment of people and animals.
7 (d) When recommending instructional materials for use
8 in the schools, each committee shall require, when appropriate
9 to the comprehension of pupils, that materials for social
10 science, history, or civics classes contain the Declaration of
11 Independence and the Constitution of the United States. No
12 instructional materials shall be recommended by any committee
13 for use in the schools which contain any matter reflecting
14 unfairly upon persons because of their race, color, creed,
15 national origin, ancestry, gender, or occupation.
16 (e) Instructional materials recommended for
17 mathematics, science, and computer education shall be
18 consistent with the Comprehensive Plan for Mathematics,
19 Science, and Computer Education.
20 (e)(f) All instructional materials recommended by each
21 committee for use in the schools shall be, to the satisfaction
22 of each committee, accurate, objective, and current and suited
23 to the needs and comprehension of pupils at their respective
24 grade levels. Instructional materials committees shall
25 consider for adoption materials developed for academically
26 talented students such as those enrolled in advanced placement
27 courses.
28 (f)(g) When recommending instructional materials for
29 use in the schools, each committee shall have the
30 recommendations of all districts which submit evaluations on
31 the materials submitted for adoption in that particular
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1 subject area aggregated and presented to the members to aid
2 them in the selection process; however, such aggregation shall
3 be weighted in accordance with the full-time equivalent
4 student percentage of each district. Each committee shall
5 prepare an additional aggregation, unweighted, with each
6 district recommendation given equal consideration. No
7 instructional materials shall be evaluated or recommended for
8 adoption unless each of the district committees shall have
9 been loaned the specified number of samples.
10 (g)(h) In addition to relying on statements of
11 publishers or manufacturers of instructional material, any
12 committee may conduct, or cause to be conducted, an
13 independent investigation as to the compliance of submitted
14 materials with the requirements of this section.
15 (i) In the event that, after good faith acquisition of
16 instructional materials by a district school board, the
17 instructional materials are found to be not in accordance with
18 the requirements of this subsection and the school board is
19 unable to acquire other instructional materials which meet the
20 requirements of this subsection in time for them to be used as
21 intended, the school board may use the acquired materials, but
22 only for that academic year.
23 Section 3. Section 233.11, Florida Statutes, is
24 amended to read:
25 233.11 Contact with publishers, manufacturers, or
26 their representatives prohibited.--It is unlawful for any
27 member of a state instructional materials committee to discuss
28 matters relating to instructional materials submitted for
29 adoption with any agent of a publisher or manufacturer of
30 instructional materials, either directly or indirectly, except
31 during the period when the committee shall have been called
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1 into session for the purpose of evaluating instructional
2 materials submitted for adoption. Such discussions shall be
3 limited to official meetings of the committee and in
4 accordance with procedures rules and regulations adopted by
5 the committee for that purpose.
6 Section 4. Subsection (2) and paragraph (c) of
7 subsection (4) of section 233.16, Florida Statutes, are
8 amended to read:
9 233.16 Powers and duties of Department of Education in
10 selecting and adopting instructional materials.--The powers
11 and duties of the Department of Education in selecting and
12 adopting instructional materials shall be:
13 (2) CONTRACT WITH PUBLISHERS OR MANUFACTURERS;
14 BOND.--As soon as practicable after the department has adopted
15 any instructional materials and all bidders that have secured
16 the adoption of any instructional materials have been notified
17 of the same by registered letter, the Department of Legal
18 Affairs shall prepare a contract in accordance with the
19 provisions of the school code with every bidder awarded the
20 adoption of any instructional materials. Said contracts shall
21 be executed by the Governor and Secretary of State under the
22 seal of the state, one copy to be kept by the contractor, one
23 copy to be filed in the Department of State, and one copy to
24 be filed in the Department of Education. After giving due
25 consideration to comments by the districts, the department,
26 with the agreement of the publisher, may extend or shorten a
27 contract period for a period not to exceed 2 years; and the
28 terms of any such contract shall remain the same as those set
29 forth in the original contract. Any publisher or manufacturer
30 to whom any contract is let under the provisions of this
31 chapter must give bond in such amount as the department deems
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1 advisable, payable to the state, conditioned for the faithful,
2 honest, and exact performance of the contract. The bond must
3 further provide for the payment of reasonable attorney's fees
4 in case of recovery in any suit upon the same. The surety on
5 the bond must be a guaranty or surety company authorized by
6 the laws of the state to do business in the state; however,
7 the bond shall not be exhausted by a single recovery but may
8 be sued upon from time to time until the full amount thereof
9 is recovered, and the department may at any time, after giving
10 30 days' notice, require additional security or additional
11 bond. The form of any bond or bonds or contract or contracts
12 under the provisions of this chapter shall be prepared and
13 approved by the Department of Legal Affairs. At the discretion
14 of the Commissioner of Education, a publisher or manufacturer
15 to whom any contract is let under provisions of this chapter
16 may be allowed a cash deposit in lieu of a bond, conditioned
17 for the faithful, honest, and exact performance of the
18 contract. The cash deposit, payable to the Department of
19 Education, shall be placed in the Textbook Bid Trust Fund.
20 The department may recover damages on the cash deposit given
21 by the contractor for failure to furnish instructional
22 materials, the sum recovered to inure to the General Revenue
23 Fund.
24 (4) RETURN OF DEPOSITS.--
25 (c) One copy of each contract and an original of each
26 bid, whether accepted or rejected, shall be preserved in the
27 office of the Department of Education for at least 3 5 years
28 beyond the termination of the contract.
29 Section 5. Section 233.18, Florida Statutes, is
30 amended to read:
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1 233.18 Copies of bids, contracts, and instructional
2 materials books retained.--Specimen copies of all
3 instructional materials textbooks, which have been made the
4 bases of contracts under the provisions of this chapter,
5 shall, upon request for the purpose of public inspection, be
6 made available by the publisher to clearly marked and
7 identified as such, shall be deposited by their publishers
8 with the Department of Education and the superintendent of
9 each school district that adopts such materials from the state
10 list, which specimens shall be preserved and kept open for
11 inspection by the public. All contracts and bonds executed
12 under the provisions of this chapter shall be signed in
13 triplicate. One copy of each contract and an original of each
14 bid, whether accepted or rejected, shall be preserved in the
15 office of the Department of Education for at least 3 5 years
16 beyond the termination of the contract.
17 Section 6. Subsections (2), (4), (9), and (14) and
18 paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section 233.25, Florida
19 Statutes, are amended to read:
20 233.25 Duties, responsibilities, and requirements of
21 publishers and manufacturers of instructional
22 materials.--Publishers and manufacturers of instructional
23 materials, or their representatives, shall:
24 (2)(a) Deliver specimen copies of all instructional
25 materials upon which bids or proposals are based to each
26 member of a state instructional materials committee. Written
27 descriptions and representative samples of each nonprint
28 instructional material upon which a bid or proposal is based
29 shall be delivered for use by all members of the committee.
30 At the conclusion of the review process, manufacturers
31 submitting samples of instructional materials shall be
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1 entitled to the return thereof, at the expense of the
2 manufacturers; or, in the alternative, the manufacturers shall
3 be entitled to reimbursement by the individual committee
4 members for the retail value of such samples.
5 (b) Loan copies of such materials in quantities to be
6 determined by the Department of Education to those districts
7 participating in preadoption evaluations or in lieu thereof,
8 in the case of nonprint instructional materials, descriptions
9 and representative selections therefrom. At the conclusion of
10 the review process, if the district does not return such
11 instructional materials to the publishers and manufacturers,
12 at their expense, the publishers and manufacturers shall be
13 entitled to reimbursement by the district for the retail value
14 of such materials.
15 (3) Submit, at a time designated in s. 233.14, the
16 following information:
17 (b) Written proof that the publisher has provided
18 written correlations to appropriate curricular objectives
19 included within applicable performance standards provided for
20 in s. 229.565 the following instructional objectives when
21 appropriate: standards of excellence, the minimum student
22 performance standards, and the raise achievement in secondary
23 education program (RAISE) which provides for curriculum
24 frameworks for secondary level courses.
25 (4) By a date set by the Commissioner of Education for
26 the year that a committee is considering a specific academic
27 area for adoption, each publisher or manufacturer shall submit
28 to the committee a written description of how materials meet
29 each of the specifications and criteria developed by the
30 commissioner. The description shall include an explanation of
31 the function and goals of the instructional materials program,
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1 including the rationale for the design of the program, and the
2 relationship between each of the components comprising the
3 program. Such reports shall be made available to each school
4 district.
5 (9) Guarantee that all copies of any instructional
6 materials sold in this state will be at least equal in quality
7 to the copies of such instructional materials that are sold
8 elsewhere in the United States and will be kept revised, free
9 from all errors, and up-to-date as may be required by the
10 Department of Education state board.
11 (14) Upon the willful failure of the publisher or
12 manufacturer to comply with the requirements of this section,
13 be liable to the Department of Education state board in the
14 amount of 3 times the total sum which the publisher or
15 manufacturer was paid in excess of the price required under
16 subsections (6) and (7) and in the amount of 3 times the total
17 value of the instructional materials and services which the
18 district board is entitled to receive free of charge under
19 subsection (8).
20 Section 7. Subsections (2), (6), and (7) of section
21 233.46, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
22 233.46 Duties of principals.--The duties and
23 responsibilities of principals for instructional materials
24 management and care include:
25 (2) MONEY COLLECTED FOR LOST OR DAMAGED BOOKS.--It
26 shall be the duty and responsibility of each principal to
27 collect from each pupil or the pupil's parent the purchase
28 price of any instructional material the pupil has lost,
29 destroyed, or unnecessarily damaged and to report and transmit
30 such amounts so collected to the superintendent. If such
31 material so lost, destroyed, or damaged has been in school use
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1 for more than 1 year, a sum ranging between 50 and 75 percent
2 of the purchase price of the book shall be collected. Such
3 sum shall be determined by the physical condition of the book.
4 The failure to collect such sum upon reasonable effort by the
5 principal may result in the suspension of the pupil from
6 participation in extracurricular activities or satisfaction of
7 the debt by the pupil through community service activities at
8 the school site as determined by the principal.
9 (6) ACCOUNTING FOR TEXTBOOKS.--Principals shall see
10 that all books are fully and properly accounted for as on
11 forms prescribed by rules of the local school district the
12 state board, and on forms which are supplied through the
13 office of the superintendent.
14 (7) RECORDS AND REPORTS.--Principals shall prepare and
15 transmit such textbook records and reports as may be required
16 by the Department of Education and such supplementary records
17 and reports as the superintendent may direct.
18 Section 8. Subsection (1) of section 233.47, Florida
19 Statutes, is amended to read:
20 233.47 Responsibility of pupils, parents, or guardians
21 for instructional materials.--
22 (1) All instructional materials heretofore or
23 hereafter purchased under the provisions of this chapter shall
24 be the property of the district. When distributed to the
25 pupils, such materials shall be merely loaned to the pupils of
26 the school while pursuing the courses of study therein and are
27 to be returned at the direction of the principal or teacher in
28 charge. Each parent, guardian, or other person having charge
29 of a pupil to whom or for whom materials have been issued, as
30 provided herein, shall be held liable for any loss or
31 destruction of, or unnecessary damage to, such materials or
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1 for failure of such pupil to return such materials when
2 directed by the principal or teacher in charge, and shall be
3 required to reimburse the school district immediately pay for
4 such loss, destruction, or unnecessary damage as provided by
5 law. In addition, the parent, guardian, or other person having
6 charge of a pupil to whom or for whom materials have been
7 issued shall be responsible for the reimbursement of any court
8 costs and attorney's fees incurred by the school district in
9 pursuit of its rights pursuant to this section if the school
10 district prevails in such an action.
11 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 1997.
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14 HOUSE SUMMARY
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With respect to instructional materials in the public
16 schools, revises provisions relating to: state
instructional materials committees; evaluation of
17 instructional materials; committee procedures; publisher
or manufacturer requirements; preservation of contracts;
18 specimen copies of instructional materials; and penalties
for lost or damaged instructional materials.
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